It Could Have Been Worse
by yeeeellowww
Summary: Quinn was fascinated by the mysterious Rachel Berry, a girl with a dark past and scarred face. Rachel didn't think she would find too many friends at McKinley High, let alone a girlfriend. Faberry pairing w/ references to original Glee storyline but will be AU.
1. Chapter 1

**I've never done this before. Please be nice.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

Chapter 1

Sometimes she didn't understand why her dad supported her.

Rachel wasn't exactly the ideal daughter. She never had close friends and kept to herself. She could never have a normal conversation with her parents because her life was just getting _back_ to normal.

"**Ms. Berry**?"

Turning her head, Rachel took in the appearance of the man on the other side of the desk. Principal Figgins was as anal and neurotic as he looked. His office was organized to the point of OCD, and his attitude was really starting to annoy her.

His look of annoyance made it clear that he also wanted her out of here.

"Yes?" She made sure to stare. It seemed to make him uncomfortable.

"**I would appreciate it if you would stop staring off into space so we can get your paperwork ready. I'm sure that you care about your education, given your circumstances**?" He half yelled.

Annoyed, Rachel glanced at her father sitting next to her before looking back at the principal.

"_You know, it doesn't matter how loud you are, my father still can't hear you."_ She replied, while expertly moving her hands. She made sure to seem angry.

But Rachel wasn't the type of girl that seemed too intimidating. She was a sweet looking girl, with dark hair, chocolate brown eyes and a caramel complexion. She dressed as normally as anyone else and chose her attire of jeans, sneakers and a plain white tshirt without giving much thought. Her almost fragile and wounded gaze could have made her seem weak.

Rachel was sweet and nice to everyone,but she wasn't weak. She was strong, confident, talented and also a damn good singer.

"_I have to go to the bathroom"_ She signed the words to her father and got up to leave.

Richard smiled to her.

"_I'll sign everything. You can just go on to class when you're ready."_ Her foster dad never questioned her actions and let her do whatever the hell she wanted. Maybe it was because she always kept to herself and seemed independent enough.

She smiled back.

As Rachel walked through the halls, she heard the bell ring and made her way to the restroom in an attempt to wade through the sea of students filing out of classrooms. Before she could even think, her face was suddenly hit by something ice cold. Rachel couldn't comprehend what had just happened and her eyes stung as corn syrup blinded her. She suddenly felt vulnerable, not being able to see in front of her.

The cherry flavored slushie let her match perfectly with the red tile and lockers of the school. Rachel could almost feel the awkward tension as students passed by, feeling bad but too scared to help her.

She could barely see the group of boys clad in letterman jackets responsible for her plight through blurry vision, but she could hear them perfectly well.

"Welcome to McKinley High!" The group of jocks laughed together and walked away as Rachel scrambled to find the bathroom.

She looked in the mirror, taking in her appearance. The scars at the corner and underneath her eye, along with two others running to her temple and on her ear always did make her feel conscious around others. The right side of her face was flawless, mocking her, reminding her of what she could have. A couple of other girls in the bathroom hurried out, not wanting to bear the responsibility of helping Rachel.

As Rachel awkwardly fit her head into the sink in a vain attempt to wash the annoying beverage from her hair, she didn't hear the bathroom door open and close. The sound of running water and the memory of her humiliation was deafening, and Rachel didn't notice the three girls who were now in the bathroom with her.

A blonde with green eyes, a brunette and another blonde with a vacant expression all shared a look.

"Hey."

There was no answer. Only the sound of Rachel's frustration.

"**Hey.**"

The blonde girl with green eyes started to get annoyed. She looked over at the brunette again, who gave her a shrug, and proceeded to tap the girl (quite hard) on the shoulder.

"_**Jesus!**_" Startled, Rachel banged the back of her head on the faucet. Dizzy, she sat down, fearing she would fall.

"God, what are you deaf?" The blonde stared at the girl with narrowed eyes.

"Nah, I don't think she knows english." The brunette looked over at the other blonde next to her, who had watched Rachel intently as the whole scene played out.

"Guys, I think she's deaf."

"What?"

"For real?"

Rachel stared at all three of the cheerleaders in front of her, feeling frustrated. The brunette cheerleader and the blonde with the piercing gaze were now staring at the other blonde. Rachel looked at her too.

"I said, I think she's dea – "

"I'm **not** deaf." She interrupted, getting annoyed with how they were talking about her.

Suddenly, all three pairs of eyes were awareof the other person in the room.

Rachel turned red, not used to so many people acknowledging her.

"Okay, well obviously you can't hold a normal conversation because you can't hear very well." The blonde, who seemed to be the leader of the three, interrupted her while looking at her skeptically.

"Can you understand what I'm saying now?"

Rachel's eyes flashed dangerously for a moment.

"Of course I can, I'm not an invalid." She replied curtly.

The girl with the green eyes stared for a while. Rachel started to get nervous, and the situation immediately became even more uncomfortable.

"Anyway, I'm Quinn Fabray. This is Santana and Brittany."

"I'm Rachel Berry." She replied, cautiously. She nervously started playing with the hem of her t shirt, looking as awkward as she felt.

Quinn smiled, finding the girl slightly amusing and cute.

"You should be more careful walking down the halls. Looking lost makes you a perfect target."

"Thanks." Rachel murmured, looking anywhere but the direction of the three intimidating girls.

The awkward silence was suffocating. Rachel decided to save them all the trouble.

"Look, I have to go, it's my first day…"

"I can help you wash the rest of the slushie off. You don't want to walk to class on your first day looking like-"

"I think scars are really hot." Brittany interrupted randomly. She was looking at the left side of Rachel's face.

Rachel suddenly got red, feeling self conscious and slightly offended. None of the girls seemed to be affected by her appearance, making her feel like a normal teenager in an awkward situation for once. That moment was short lived as all three of them got silent, not knowing what to say anymore.

Quinn wanted to apologize and explain that Brittany was never sarcastic and always told the truth, but she never got the chance.

"On second thought, I'll take my chances." Rachel hurried out of the room, feeling stupid for thinking three beautiful girls had wanted to be her friends.

"Brittany…"

"Did I say something wrong?" Brittany looked heartbroken that their new friend didn't seem to want to be their friend anymore.

Santana looked sympathetically at Brittany.

"Don't worry Britt. She doesn't know you well enough to know what you really meant."

Quinn looked longingly at the closed bathroom door. She just couldn't shake the feeling of protectiveness over this Rachel Berry. She barely knew the girl, yet something about the small, scarred brunette made her run after her.

"Wait!"

Before Rachel could hide anywhere, Quinn had caught up. There was another awkward silence as both girls didn't know what to say.

"Um.. sorry." Quinn said lamely.

"It's fine. It's not like you were the one who said it anyway."

"Brittany is…"

"You don't have to defend anyone. And you don't have to make me feel better. I get it, no one wants to deal with someone who will tarnish their reputation. It's embarassing." Rachel kept looking at the ground, not wanting to meet Quinn's eyes.

Quinn seemed slightly taken aback.

"You know, anyone who thinks that doesn't deserve to be your friend."

There was another pause, each girl trying to guess what the other was thinking.

"Brittany is a very special person. She thinks her cat is a smoker and can poop candy bars. She's a lot of things, but she's not a liar."

"Oh." Rachel didn't know what else to say. Although she was skeptical, she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make new friends.

"I remember you said that you could sing." Quinn immediately had Rachel's attention.

"I did."

"Great, you should audition for the glee club. We need some new talent, and between you and me, our captain is becoming a pain in my ass."With that, Quinn turned to get to class (late) before pointing to the bulletin board across the hall.

Rachel walked over hesitantly, looked at the empty list of names for auditions and signed her name for the first time slot. It wouldn't hurt to try.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

Chapter 2

Quinn walked in late to her class immediately after confronting Rachel. Brittany and Santana had saved her usual seat.

"_What's up?_" Santana scribbled onto the side of her notebook.

"_Cleared things up. Might have a new glee member._"

"_What?_" Santana whispered loudly.

"SShh!" The teacher glared at them from his desk. Quinn rolled her eyes.

"_Said she could sing. Introduced her to glee. Looked interested."_

It was clear that Quinn wasn't joking, and Santana looked impressed. No one these days wanted to join the glee club, unless they wanted to be dubbed a loser. The club didn't have any freshman, meaning in a couple years it would be gone. Rachel didn't seem like a freshman, but anyone new was welcome to the small group that didn't even have enough members to participate in anything.

The rest of the class went by silently with the teacher being too lazy to teach, kids texting, Quinn falling asleep, and Brittany and Santana holding hands under their desks.

The day went by as usual and by the end, Quinn was relieved to be able to move around. She caught a flash of blonde hair and grinned, immediately knowing who it was.

"Hey." Quinn said happily, hugging Sam from behind.

Her boyfriend turned around, smiling adorably.

"When does your practice end? My parents won't be back from work until later."

Quinn's face fell by a fraction, but her facade stayed perfectly.

"Actually, I already planned something with Santana and Brittany afterwards." Quinn hated lying, buut Sam and Quinn's relationship was starting to go downhill. Their seemingly perfect relationship was not perfect. Both of them had gotten busy, and their friendship had not been strong enough to withstand the distance. Nowadays, Sam had only wanted to make out and had been pushing for sex.

Quinn was no virgin, but sex was not something she should give away freely. Getting pregnant and giving her baby up for adoption had taught her that. She had matured throughout sophomore year, and now junior year was her chance to change her relationships with everyone she had pushed away.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll just hang with the guys later." Sam walked away, looking slightly disappointed.

Their relationship had been great, but it had run its coarse. Quinn could sense the breakup coming soon. Maybe in a couple of weeks. She tried to make the relationship work, but no matter how hard she tried to love him, or at least to want him, her mind would wander elsewhere.

"HEY, CAN YOU HEAR ME? How about this? What does this mean?"

"Can you cuss in sign?"

Quinn's head whipped around and she took in the sight of a couple hockey members surrounding someone at the lockers.

It was Rachel.

Quinn wondered why they kept on asking her those questions. Quinn contemplated going over to help her, but she decided against it after some thought. Her reputation had already become tarnished, making her vulnerable, and knowing the hockey team, they would verbally abuse her too. She walked away, not able to deal with any confrontations so soon after the disaster of her sophomore year.

_You are such a coward. If you were her you would want her help._ Her self conscious stabbed at her heart, making her regret every step she took away from the situation. She hoped that she would forget everything over the next few days.

* * *

><p>Those next few days went by quickly for Quinn. She felt guilty for not helping Rachel, and was successfully avoiding her. What made her disappointed was the fact that Rachel didn't seem to mind at all. She would walk confidently and comfortably around school, usually alone but sometimes with a friend or two.<p>

"Hey Q, I need the notes from last class. Me and Britt need to study." Santana stood in front of her, not even considering the fact that she was in Quinn's personal space. Quinn smirked.

"And by study, you mean make out and then end up with her head between your-"

Santana poked her hard in the stomach.

"Watch it Tubbers, I can still kick your ass."

Quinn glared at Santana then chuckled.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Besides, no one's around." She watched her friend in all her Hispanic glory, wearing the ridiculous Cheerio's outfit and hands on her hips.

"Uh huh. The notes?" Santana quirked an eyebrow. Quinn handed them over, knowing the brunette would convince her to give them up either way. The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and the two decided to walk to glee together.

"S…"

"Yea."

"Did you ever, you know, consider that cheerleading isn't as worth it anymore?"

Santana looked at Quinn, puzzled.

"What? You only thought of this now?"

"I don't know. It's just that, before it was only good for the reputation. Now, it doesn't matter now because our reputations are already—"

"Hold up Q." Santana interrupted her before she could say any more.

"You mean _your_ reputation was ruined after you got preggers."

Quinn gave her a bored expression.

"San…I'm serious."

Santana gave her a blank stare, then smirked.

"Well, if you really want to know,me and Britts considered it after the time coach banned the three of us from sharing a room at camp after she caught-"

"Nevermind!" Quinn exclaimed. She turned cherry red, feeling embarassed.

"Chill Q, it's not like we had a three—"

"Santana!"

Quinn was blushing furiously at this point.

"You never take anything seriously…"

"Okay, fine, you want to hear the truth? The Cheerios are the only thing that's keeping us from being like Jewfro and every other sad little person who gets slushied. It _is_ worth it." Santana said, finally being serious.

Santana looked at Quinn with a confused expression.

"You've been acting really weird lately. Something up with Sam? Oh God, you're not dying or anything right?"

"Mm." Quinn's mind had already wandered elsewhere as they reached the choir room. The rest of the glee kids chatted animatedly as Rachel Berry stood with Mr. Schue, looking nervous.

"Well damn, you weren't kidding."

At the sound of Santana's voice, all the glee kids turned their attention to them and to the new person they hadn't noticed.

Quinn and Santana sat down next to Brittany, who had saved a spot for them.

"Alright guys. I'm pleased to say that we have one new member. This is Rachel Berry." Mr. Schue said, trying to contain his excitement over new interest in the group.

"Hold up." The sole African American member of the group stood up, hands on her hips.

"As captain of the club, I demand an audition."

"Mercedes…" Mr. Schue said tiredly.

"What if she's not good enough? Or she brings us down? We've worked too hard to get this good and even if we do get to compete this year, she won't do any good for us if she can't sing." She retaliated.

Quinn had already droned out the conversation by then. She seemed mesmerized by the way Rachel moved, talking with the instrumentalists and getting ready to perform as if she was born for it.

_Those legs, oh God._ She said to herself. Rachel was small, but she was so perfectly proportioned. Quinn snapped out of her daze, mentally slapping herself for thinking of anyone other than her boyfriend.

The room suddenly became silent as the music started, and Rachel began to sing.

Quinn stopped breathing.

The sound of Rachel's voice was perfect. Quinn could listen to Rachel's voice for the rest of her life and be content. She sang as if she were on a Broadway stage. Her hips swayed with the music, and Quinn felt something stir in the pit of her stomach. Never in her life had someone made her feel this way before. She made sure to take in everything about Rachel and the way she nailed the audition. Even if Quinn never became friends with Rachel Berry or never spoke with her, she would remember how perfect she was right now.

At that exact moment, Quinn knew that Rachel would outshine the rest of the group.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the room erupted in applause.

"Oh my goodness. Girl, we _must_ discuss duets. Our voices would blend _perfectly_ together." Kurt, the most stylish boy Quinn had ever met was already up and in Rachel's personal space, getting to know her.

Quinn looked over to Mercedes, who looked jealous but thoroughly impressed. Mr. Schue looked like he just had an orgasm and the rest of the club started getting to know Rachel.

"Where's Santana and Brittany?" Noah Puckerman decided to wait in order to introduce himself.

Quinn hadn't noticed the two disappear to do God knows what after Rachel's performance.

"Probably making out." Quinn replied, not really paying attention to him.

Puck's face blanked. Quinn poked him hard.

"You're disgusting." She told him.

Puck rolled his eyes at her.

"You can't contain the Puckasaurus."

Quinn decided to go look for Sam, feeling guilty for ignoring him after a couple days. She caught him at the parking lot, before he drove away.

"Hey." She said awkwardly.

"Hey." He replied, looking happy to see her. Sam immediately leaned over for a kiss. Quinn kissed back. Before she pulled away, he deepened the kiss, running his tongue along her lips. Sam started to put her between him and the car next to his. She pushed him away gently.

"I'm not in the mood." She really wasn't.

"Come on, Quinn. It's been so long." He leaned in again. She pulled away.

"Can we just hang out later today?" Sam didn't seem to get the message, and started kissing her again.

Quinn pushed him away. Hard.

"I said _no_, Sam." She was angry, and so was he.

"You know, you can't expect a guy to stay with you if you won't even let him touch you." Sam replied sharply. He looked at her, waiting for her to say something, anything. Quinn couldn't say anything, because her only excuse was that she couldn't stand the thought of touching him again. She started getting frustrated.

"Fuck me..." Quinn muttered under her breath. This situation was all too familiar.

"I've tried!"

Quinn saw red and almost slapped him, but refrained from it. She knew that this was partially her fault.

"You know what, I'll just see you tomorrow." Sam got into his car, looked as if he was going to say something, and drove away. Like after all the other times they argued, Quinn was left alone. They weren't even fighting for very long anymore. Both of them would run away, letting the void between grow larger every day. She wiped her mouth, surprised that she actually felt disgusted that her own _boyfriend_ tried to kiss her.

"That your boyfriend?"

Quinn whipped around, startled at the sudden interruption. Rachel stood in front of her, looking uncertain.

"Enjoy the show?" Quinn almost snarled. She instantly regretted her tone when Rachel flinched and worried her bottom lip.

_Cute_.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

Rachel smiled.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you guys were kind of making out on my car." She said pointing to the red car.

Quinn blushed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

"You know, any guy who says things like that to you doesn't deserve to be your boyfriend." Rachel said gently.

"That sounds oddly familiar."

"A smart and pretty girl taught me that when I needed some encouragement." Rachel replied, smirking.

Quinn blushed again. Red seemed to be her new color these days.

"You sang really well today." Quinn changed the subject immediately. Rachel beamed at this.

"Thank you! It's just absolutely amazing to be able to find someplace to be comfortable at this know, I have a lot of ideas for just about everything…" She went on.

Quinn smiled, her mind wandering back to the memory she had of Rachel's audition.

"…and Mike and Tina are adorable! Puck was, I mean _is_ really nice. Finn seems awkward…and have you noticed that Kurt is more stylish than half the girls at this school? Mercedes is such a great singer but I feel like she doesn't like me…and oh my God, I'm rambling…" Rachel suddenly looked scared as Quinn kept on smiling at her.

"It's fine. I like listening."

"Sorry, it's just that I've never been a part of anything like this before." Rachel looked at the ground again. Quinn suddenly wondered why she never tried to talk to Rachel before. The sound of Rachel speaking was so relaxing. No, she knew why she never tried talking to her. Being seen with Rachel would make Quinn vulnerable. She wasn't ready to be the center of attention right now. Suddenly, a rush of guilt overcame her as she thought of all the times she didn't help Rachel when she saw her get bullied for being the new girl, or when got slushied. She felt guilty for being such a coward, even the first day, when the hockey team surrounded her by the lockers…

"Why were those kids making fun of you at the lockers the other day?" Quinn blurted out the question without thinking.

Rachel looked surprised. "What.."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get in your business, and I should have helped you that day when I saw you." Quinn suddenly regretted asking the question in the first place.

"I know sign language because my foster dad is deaf." Rachel replied quickly.

"Oh…" Quinn became uncomfortable. There were so many things she didn't but wanted to know about Rachel Berry.

"The kids must have seen me with my dad the first day." She went on nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal. There conversations always seemed to make one of them uncomfortable.

"Well… thanks for, you know, not judging." Quinn finally said.

Rachel smiled again, causing her scars to stretch. Quinn's stomach did back flips. To her, Rachel's face was flawless.

"I'll see you next week?"

"Yeah." Quinn hurridly walked to her own car. She needed to stop thinking strange things about Rachel Berry and acting so weird around her.

People would start thinking she had crush.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for the nice comments. My first 4 reviewers are so nice and I appreciate everyone who is giving this story a chance. T.T I apologize for some of the choppiness in this chapter... I promise I'll make it weekend was chaotic XD **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

Chapter 3

Rachel Berry was confused.

Out of every new person she had gotten to know, Quinn Fabray confused her the most. She gave off mixed signals, striking up a conversation one day, and avoiding her the next. Rachel's mind kept wandering back to the beautiful blonde, and she couldn't stop seeing her face everywhere she went. Unfortunately for Rachel, she didn't see the person in front of her, causing her to slam right into them.

"Watch it!" the girl snapped.

"Sorry!"

The other girl, clearly a cheerleader gave Rachel a once over, eyes furrowed.

"What the hell happened to your face?"

Rachel turned red, scars tingling as they made themselves known to her once again.

"Back off, Stephanie."

Rachel and the cheerleader turned. Rachel hadn't been more glad to see Quinn Fabray.

"You back off, Fabray. This is none of your business." Stephanie growled.

Quinn quirked an eyebrow.

_That's hot._ Rachel thought suddenly.

"Don't make me tell coach about a certain change you made over the summer."

Stephanie's eyes narrowed, but she didn't say a thing. She only walked away, presumably to complain to her boyfriend.

"Thanks." Rachel said softly.

Quinn turned to her.

"Be careful around her. She can dig up dirt on anyone. Or even make it up."

Quinn had actually been really curious about Rachel's face, but judging by her reaction, she knew she shouldn't ask until Rachel was ready to tell.

The silence between them turned awkward. The girls never knew what to say around each other anymore. Their friendship was strange, unpredictable.

"Well… thanks again. I'll see you later?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

Quinn looked as if she wanted to say something else.

"Yeah." She smiled, and turned to leave.

Rachel watched her hips sway confidently. Even in the ridiculous Cheerios outfit, Quinn could make anything look good.

"Rachel!" she turned, seeing Puck was running towards her.

"Hi Noah."

"So I was wondering if you wanted to hang out Friday night. We can do whatever you want, maybe even hook up?" By the look on his face, it didn't seem as though he was joking about the last part.

"I would love to spend time with you, but I will be busy on Friday night. How about another day?"

Noah smirked. "Of course. Just let me know and I'll make time." He put his arm around her.

"You know, two hot Jews like ourselves should totally hang out. We could even be the new power couple." Rachel fidgeted uncomfortably beneath him.

"I wouldn't necessarily call myself hot." Rachel muttered under her breath.

Noah sobered, having heard her.

"Don't ever think that." He found it strange that she seemed so nonchalant about everything.

"My only advice to you is to not let whatever happened bring you down. You're hot and nothing will change that." He removed his arm.

Rachel found him charming, although he could never keep it in his pants. She patted his bicep and smiled, appreciating his efforts to get to know her.

She walked to her car, her mind on piercing green eyes. As she arrived home, she noticed the front door open. Her mom's car sat in the driveway. Rachel was suddenly worried, memories and gory images filling her head.

She hurried in the house.

"Mom?" she called out, not hearing any noise at first. She walked into the kitchen, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her mother struggling to put away groceries.

"Rachel! How was school? Can you help me with this and then take out the dog?" her mom breathed out.

"You left the front door open." Rachel said.

"Oh, I knew you would be coming home—"

"The screen door was open too." She didn't know why she was being so short with her mother, but sometimes her mother tried to pertend the world was this perfect, happy place. It was frustrating and sometimes annoying. Rachel decided to let it drop, knowing she could be a bit paranoid at times.

Her mood lifted as the shaggy dog the family had adopted before moving to Lima came trotting happily to Rachel.

"Hey Kevin!"Rachel bent down to greet the white and grey dog. He panted happily as he knew he would be going out. Rachel quickly put his leash on and left the house, wanting to get away.

Kevin led the way, knowing Rachel took the same route every day. They both reached the park, where Rachel sat down, Kevin laying alongside her in the grass. She loved her dog, she really did. Looking at him lifted her mood, but sometimes Rachel couldn't bear to look at him. After all, Kevin was only adopted at first for the sake of replacing another. Rachel never dwelled on it too much though. Her life was starting to turn around. And she could forget things just as easily as her mom if meant keeping the nightmares away.

Rachel's thoughts became interrupted when she heard laughing. She looked over, curious, settling her eyes on one Quinn Fabray. Cuddling on a blanket with Sam Evans.

She felt a twinge in her stomach, not sure whether it was nervousness or jealousy. She got up, wanting to leave quickly without being seen.

"Rachel!" she froze.

Rachel looked up to see Quinn and Sam making their way to her. She seriously considered running back home.

"Hey." She said lamely as they reached her.

Quinn smiled. "Hey."

"You've already met Sam in glee."

"Yeah." Rachel forced a smile back. Sam bent down and proceeded to play with Kevin, who seemed to enjoy the new attention.

_Keep your hands off my dog._ Rachel thought. She found it ridiculous and surprising that she had this unnecessary dislike towards Sam. She didn't know why, she was sure he was a nice guy. At least Kevin liked him.

"Hey, listen. There's a party at Puck's house on Friday. I was wondering if you would like to come? Glee kids will be there too." Noah must have decided to have party when she turned him down.

"I'll make sure to think about it." She replied politely, although she knew she wouldn't be going.

"Alright, I'll see you around."

"Bye." Sam said, getting up.

Rachel walked home. She couldn't seem to avoid the short and awkard conversations she kept having with Quinn. Shaking off all the feelings she had, she walked up the porch and saw her mother leaving the house.

"Oh, Rachel! Your dad is on call tonight, and I'll be in the office until later. Apparently there's some emergency." Her mother hurried away.

Rachel loved both her foster parents. Really. But the fact that her dad was always at the hospital, and that her mom always avoided being in the house made it difficult to have a proper relationship with them. It also didn't help that she didn't want to be seen outside with her deaf dad. She couldn't bear the thought of the kids at school making fun of him, knowing he would be heartbroken. One would think that kids would be more understanding nowadays.

Rachel enjoyed the rest of the day to herself, going back to her routine and trying to think about something other than Quinn. She turned on her favorite TV shows, and cuddled on the couch with Kevin until she fell asleep.

_A young Rachel whimpered. There was blood everywhere, on her face, on her clothes, on the carpet. On her parents._

_She closed her eyes, scared of the scene in front of her. She could barely hear the shouting, or feel the pain that was all over her body._

"_Rachel."_

_Rachel refused to look, ignoring the broken glass beneath her and the voice she would never forget, praying that she would wake up from this nightmare._

Rachel's eyes opened slowly. Her neck was cramped from the position she had fallen asleep in and looked over at the time, realizing that it was way too early to be awake, and too late to be asleep.

It was in the shower when Rachel realized that her mom had never come home that night.

She had been doing this a lot lately, going on a ladies' night out, or staying the night at the office. She couldn't blame her. The house had become dead lately, and her mother's way of coping was to deny anything was wrong and avoid everyone.

As Rachel was heading downstairs to make breakfast, she saw her father playing with Kevin and already in the process of making breakfast.

She walked up to him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He turned around, brown eyes shining and gave her a hug.

"_Hi dad."_ She signed to him.

"_Where's your mom?"_ He signed back.

She looked away. Her parents' relationship was getting distant. She wished that she could see the times when her family was as perfect and happy as ever.

"_She stayed at the office last night. There was an emergency."_

Richard's face fell a fraction. He felt as if his wife was falling out of love with him, with this family. It saddened Rachel that he was trying so hard to keep the family together. And failing.

"_I made breakfast for you. I have to go back to the hospital so I'll see you tonight."_ He left the kitchen, going to his empty bedroom.

Rachel ate in silence, a sound that was all too familiar, while slightly dreading school.

She arrived at school on time as usual. Kurt was nearby, waiting at her locker.

"Hello Kurt." Rachel said politely.

"Rachel!" He exclaimed.

"Please tell me you will be at Puckerman's party tomorrow night?" He looked hopeful.

Rachel felt guilty. She knew she wasn't going. She just wasn't in the mood to be around drunk high schoolers.

"Actually Kurt—"

"Great! Mercedes, Tina and myself will be at your house by eight so we can all get ready and carpool there." He didn't even give her a chance to speak, and was off to his first class.

Rachel sighed, not knowing how to tell them not to come without seeming too rude. She decided to deal with it later, heading over to her homeroom. The class she shared with Quinn. She sat in the back of the room, debating whether or not she actually wanted Quinn to sit next to her.

As if on cue, Quinn along with Santana and Brittany arrived to class right on time. Rachel saw them scan the room, and felt three pairs of eyes on her. The three of them walked over, sitting in front of Rachel.

Quinn turned around, taking Rachel's breath away.

"Hey Rachel."

"Hi."

"So did you decide to come?" She looked at her expectantly.

"Actually, I can't go. I have a previous engagement that I forgot about…" She felt guilty about lying.

"Oh." Quinn turned around again.

"Rachel, does that mean you'll come to the next party that we'll have?" Brittany suddenly turned around, startling her.

"Maybe." Rachel replied honestly.

Their teacher promptly hushed them, starting the lecture for the day. Rachel didn't know why, but she felt slightly disappointed about Quinn's reaction.

* * *

><p>Quinn was struggling.<p>

Every time she tried talking with Rachel, she got nervous and never knew what to say. She didn't want to seem too clingy, but at the same time, she didn't want to seem distant or cold.

She started fidgeting and shaking her leg, feeling frustrated.

"What the hell Quinn…" Santana glared at her, annoyed with the noise she was making.

"Sorry." She replied. She tried sitting still the rest of the class period, then made a mad dash for the door once the bell rang. Quinn swore Rachel Berry would make her hair go grey.

She focused on paying attention in class in order to clear her head. Santana, Brittany and even Sam had begun to notice Quinn's change in behavior.

By Cheerio's practice, Santana and Brittany had cornered her in the locker room.

"Okay Q, spill." Santana stared her in the eye, clearly not joking.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Quinn said, angry for being interrogated while changing.

Santana rolled her eyes at her. She knew something was up, and she was going to find out what it was.

"You've been acting strange all week, and don't deny it because everyone's noticed."

Quinn looked away, not knowing what to say. How was she supposed to tell them she couldn't stop thinking about the new girl without seeming like a creep?

"I've been having problems with Sam." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth.

She seemed to accept that as an answer, not wanting to pry and make her even more upset than she already was.

"Well, whatever it is, make sure you get over it by the party. We're going to let loose and have fun, got it?" Santana gave her a pointed look, which clearly showed she knew that Sam wasn't the only reason Quinn was acting like this.

Brittany came up and put her arm around Santana's waist, running her hand up and down her side gently.

"Don't worry, San. Q's strong, she can do anything." Brittany said reassuringly.

The three of them forced themselves to go to practice. All of them too tired and anticipating the weekend.

By the end of practice, the three were exhausted. Too much to say bye to each other before driving home.

Quinn pulled up the driveway, almost running over the neighbor's kids who loved making chalk drawings on their property. She rolled her eyes, not knowing why her mother let them do this.

"Hey Quinn!"

She gave the kids a wave and a forced smile. Quinn felt guilty. She had babysat these kids and talked with them up until the end of sophomore year. She just couldn't bring herself to be genuine around them anymore.

"Why doesn't Quinn play with us anymore?" she overheard one of the kids asking the other.

She couldn't hear the rest of the conversation because she rushed in the house, not able to look at them. It wasn't that Quinn suddenly hated kids. She just couldn't stomach the thought of being with them after all that she had done.

"Hey, mom." She greeted.

"Hey sweetie. How was your day?"

"The usual." Their relationship had started to get stronger ever since Judy accepted Quinn back into the house.

"By the way, I'm going out tonight. Glee kids are having a…get together." She didn't tell her that it wouldn't just be the glee kids, but her mother didn't have to know that.

"Where? Don't forget that my parents are coming for lunch tomorrow afternoon."

"Um. We're not sure yet." Quinn became uncomfortable, knowing her mother wouldn't approve of her going to Puck's house. But Quinn knew she would never, ever, be intimate with Puck ever again.

"Alright. Just make sure you're back in time." She said, surprising Quinn. Judy either thought that she was going to a small gathering. Or she must have it in her head that Quinn couldn't do anything worse after getting pregnant.

Quinn went upstairs to get ready for the party while taking her time, knowing Sam would be late picking her up.

She had been right. At around 11, Sam had texted her, saying he was waiting outside for her.

After telling her mom she was leaving, she left the house. Sam sat in the car, waiting for her. Recently, Sam had stopped opening the car door for her.

"You look pretty today." He commented, taking in her jacket and blue dress.

"Thanks." She replied.

He frowned at this, but chose to ignore it and started the engine.

The car ride went on in silence, neither of the blondes speaking with each other for a while.

"Quinn…"

"Later." She interrupted. Quinn wasn't in the mood to argue about what happened between them at the parking lot before the party.

Sam looked angry, but chose not to fight with her on their night of fun.

"Okay." he forced out. It was the last word that would be spoken between them that night.

They arrived at the party safely and fashionably late. It was already in full swing, with many of the football players and cheerleaders already drinking and having fun.

Quinn immediately went for the liquor that Puck kept only for close friends and Glee kids. She needed to loosen up.

As the night went on, Quinn had already danced with Puck and Finn. She even danced with Santana and Brittany, earning a few lustful looks from the boys and the girls. She had spent most of the night with her two friends, trying to show them that she was fine. At the moment, she was currently with some beefy football player she didn't recognize.

She felt herself being pulled away by Sam, and started a rhythm, her hips grinding against his. She was drunk, and by the smell of Sam's breath, so was he.

She felt his lips on hers, wet and sloppy. Quinn pushed him away, turning around to avoid the confrontation. He took it as a sign to start kissing her neck while his hands started wandering. Quinn's mind became filled with images of brown hair and smooth, uncalloused hands touching her. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see anything else.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Sam breathed hard in her ear, causing her to snap out of her fantasy.

Quinn couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want Sam touching her, and she didn't understand why she had to think about other people to feel good around him.

Wordlessly, she shoved him away. Sam stumbled backwards into a another girl that Quinn didn't recognize. She didn't care that Sam started dancing with her, she just had to leave.

She stumbled through the dark and humid room that was suddenly unbearable. After running into a worried Kurt, she assured him that she was fine and that she would walk home. Kurt was already wasted at that point, leaving him to believe she would indeed be okay.

Without even thinking, she pulled out her phone, while trying to get to the porch. Quinn scrolled through her contacts, finding one Rachel Berry.

"_Hey."_

And just like that, she texted Rachel Berry. Quinn was amazed at how easy it was to start talking to Rachel right now. Her phone vibrated.

"_I'm sorry, who is this?"_

Quinn's mood fell.

"_It's Quinn…_ _I got your number from Puck."_

A while later.

"_Shouldn't you be at a party?"_

"_I am. But it's lame. Wanna do something?"_

There was a long pause.

"_Rachel?"_

"_At 3 in the morning? Quinn, are you drunk?"_

"_Yes. But only a little." _She giggled at the small lie. She didn't want Rachel to think she was irresponsible.

"_Quinn, I think you need someone to take you home."_

"_Will you take me home?" _What was she doing?

_Stop Quinn_. Her mind kept telling her. No one in their right mind would come pick up a piss drunk girl they hardly knew at 3 in the morning. She would regret this so much the next day—

Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone vibrated again. Nervously, Quinn looked down.

"_I need an address."_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry for the late update. I have the flu or something and I had this chapter almost finished before I started showing signs... At the moment, I'm sitting in the dark and hoping to God that I don't have mono again. I feel exactly how I felt when I had it the first time though. Hopefully it's not because I literally slept through the entire day and my fever has started to break. **

**On a lighter note, I watched the new Glee episode and almost flipped when I found out the next one is in two weeks. The day I can actually go home and watch Glee when it's on, it's not :[ Oh well. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

Chapter 4

Rachel was crazy.

She had been woken up in the middle of the night, and had just agreed to pick up a drunk Quinn Fabray. A girl she might have a slight crush on, who was probably straight, and had a boyfriend. A boyfriend that she might break up with.

The night shouldn't be so bad right?

Looking down on herself, she debated changing out of her black sweats, until she figured Quinn would be too drunk to care about what she was wearing. After putting her hair up in a messy ponytail, she grabbed her keys.

Rachel walked quietly across the hall, making sure her father was still asleep, and snuck out easily past her mother, who was fast asleep on the couch. Kate had returned home late that night, and would be gone early in the morning.

Rachel drove to Noah's house, mind reeling. On the porch, Quinn sat still, looking asleep. Rachel got out of the car, and slowly made her way to the stairs. She looked around, not wanting anyone to see her here.

At the sound of Rachel's footsteps, Quinn's eyes slowly opened.

"Hey Rachel!" She said sleepily.

"Hi Quinn. Can you stand?"

"Yes." Quinn stood up. She slowly walked over to the car, feeling dizzy from standing too fast.

After starting the ignition, Rachel started wondering if it was a good idea for Quinn to go home in her condition.

"Quinn, how exactly were you planning on sneaking back in without your parents knowing that you're drunk?"

Quinn's eyes cleared for a second.

"Only my mom's home. My parents are divorced."

Rachel looked away, feeling embarrassed for assuming.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I deserve it."

Rachel parked in front of the park that she came to everyday, in order to have Quinn sober up before taking her home. They sat for a while in silence, except this time, both of them felt comfortable with it. Rachel turned to Quinn, looking concerned.

"What do you mean?"

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'I deserve it'?" Rachel said gently.

Quinn looked at her hands in her lap, suddenly more clear headed. She had an idea.

"What about an answer for an answer?" She finally said, meeting Rachel's eyes. She felt guilty for attempting to pry, but she just had to know more about Rachel.

Rachel looked startled and also a little uncertain. She started playing with the hem of her purple shirt. Quinn observed Rachel for a while.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I asked you a personal question, it's only fair if you get to do the same." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, making Quinn's breath hitch.

There were a couple seconds of silence before Quinn decided to speak.

"If you haven't already heard, I got pregnant last year, and gave the baby up for adoption."

"With Noah?" Rachel gave a half smile.

"People talk…"

Quinn gave a bitter laugh.

"Yeah."

"It caused my parents to split up for a while until my mom divorced my dad."

She started to cry.

Rachel's look of complete understanding made her want to cry more. She was ashamed of herself.

"I destroyed my parents' marriage, I lost a father, and then I ended up without a daughter."

The tears started to roll down her cheeks as Quinn tried looking anywhere but at Rachel's sympathetic eyes.

"I don't even know how she's doing. I gave her to some choir teacher at Carmel who lives by herself. For all I know, she could be abusive."

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed for a split second.

"Did you say Carmel?"

"Yeah, why?" Rachel looked down, looking deep in thought.

"Nothing, I just know someone from there." She covered up quickly, hoping Quinn would accept that as an answer.

Quinn wiped her tears, not wanting to cry in front of Rachel again.

"Okay, my turn."

Rachel shifted in her seat.

"What exactly happened to your face?"

Rachel thought carefully, not wanting to say anything that will scare Quinn away.

"I was in an accident when I was younger. I hit the side of my face into a mirror."

"Oh... is that all?"

"No. But if we become closer friends, maybe you'll find out." She gave Quinn a small smile.

Rachel turned red as Quinn started observing her again.

"Quinn?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to…" Rachel looked uncomfortable for a minute.

"Shoot."

Rachel took a breath.

"Why didn't Sam offer to take you home tonight?"

Quinn stiffened. Rachel bit her bottom lip, hoping that she didn't offend her.

"Why were you adopted?" Quinn didn't mean to ask so bluntly, or to make the question sound like she was retaliating.

Rachel's eyebrow went up. Quinn looked away.

"I didn't mean to be rude, it's just…you know…answer for an answer?" She looked apologetic.

Rachel smirked.

"It's okay, I just didn't expect it."

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, her phone vibrated. It was Sam, asking her where she was. She rolled her eyes and ignored him, turning her phone on silent.

"Well, you saw how we were in the parking lot the other day?"

Rachel nodded.

"We just haven't been very close lately. I danced with other people, and Sam did the same." She shrugged if off, not wanting to seem too whiny about her relationships. Quinn was sure that her situation wasn't worth talking too much over.

"Maybe it will work out?"

"No. I'm pretty sure we're going to break up soon."

"Oh…"

"Sometimes I wish our relationship was like Santana and Brittany's you know?"

Rachel looked thoughtful.  
>"They're head over heels into each other, and me and Sam practically can't stand each other anymore."<p>

"Yeah, they're cute together." Rachel said.

"More than cute…" Quinn actually thought they looked hot, but stopped herself from saying it. She didn't want Rachel to stay away from her because she thought she was gay.

"I mean… I'm sure they'd prefer to have normal relationships so they don't have to hide from anyone other than glee." Quinn quickly recovered.

Rachel seemed almost saddened by this remark.

"I'm not homophobic or anything…" Quinn rambled on. Maybe she wasn't completely sober.

"Quinn, it's okay. Anyone can state their own opinions." Rachel smiled gently.

Quinn smiled back, grateful that she saved her from digging herself into a depper hole. Rachel leaned back in her seat and cleared her throat.

"Anyway, I believe it's only fair if I answer your question as well?"

Quin nodded.

"I was adopted when I was a baby. My real mom couldn't take care of me at her age, so she thought it was best that she leave me with people who could."

Quinn blushed at this, feeling self conscious.

"Well, you must hate me now…" she muttered under breath.

Rachel's eyes widened.

"I didn't mean to say it like that." She put her hand on Quinn's.

"I think what you did was selfless and the best thing you could do at the time."

Quinn looked unconvinced.

"My foster parents raised me well, and if my mom had raised me when I wasn't ready, then who knows what could have happened. Besides, I can still talk with my mom now that my parents believe I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I respect her as a friend and as my biological mother."

Quinn looked at Rachel's hand on top of hers. It felt nice not to have an oversized and calloused hand on top of hers.

"Your parents let you talk with your mom?"

"Yes."

She had mixed feelings. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to see her daughter again. Seeing Beth would only remind her of the things she would never be able to share with her. Someone else had her now, and they would be the one in Quinn's place.

"And I would say that I have a pretty good relationship with my mom considering everything we've been through. I trust her." Although Rachel looked uncertain when she said the last part. She noticed that she was still holding Quinn's hand and moved it.

Quinn wished that she would have kept it there.

"Would you consider yourself closer with your biological mom or your foster mom?"

Rachel actually wasn't sure what to say.

"I don't know."

Quinn quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, I used to have conversations with my parents all the time. Until my mom started getting distant towards me and my dad."

Quinn looked curious.

"My mom blames my dad for a lot of things. And the fact that he's deaf doesn't make things any easier."

It made Rachel bitter, but she brushed it off. Thinking about it now wouldn't help her.

Neither of the two talked for a while, taking in what the other had said. Quinn started to feel as though she was sober, but she had no idea what time it was, and she didn't really care.

"Rachel?"

Rachel looked at Quinn.

"Do you find it strange that you're sharing so much with someone you barely know? At least until now."

She looked thoughtful.

"No. Do you?"

"No."

"Well, I also find this a milestone in our friendship." Quinn's face fell a fraction when Rachel mentioned the word 'friendship'.

"Why is that?"

There was a pause.

"This is the first time we've had a conversation this long."

Quinn smirked.

"Yeah."

The rest of the night, Quinn and Rachel enjoyed each other's presence. Quinn laid her head against the window, reflecting on the night. After a while, she turned to Rachel, wanting to start another conversation.

Rachel was leaning on the other side of the car, head against the window. Quinn _had_ woken her up in the middle of the night to come pick her up. She looked at her phone, realizing that they had talked for at least two hours. Not wanting to wake up Rachel, Quinn decided to sleep as well. She smiled to herself. At least she knew she wouldn't regret this night the next morning.

* * *

><p>Quinn woke with a crick in her neck. Rachel had moved and now lay on top of the divider between them.<p>

Although Quinn could tolerate her alcohol pretty well, she had a mild headache and a severe case of cotton mouth. She was sure that her breath also smelled like death.

She looked down at her phone, seeing that she had several missed calls from her mother.

"Shit!" She had forgotten all about lunch with her grandparents.

Rachel woke with a start.

"What…" she looked around sleepily, her hair even messier than it was the night before.

"I was supposed to be home two hours ago…" Knowing her grandparents, they were already at her house.

"Oh God, Quinn I'm so sorry. I should have taken you home before I fell asleep. I hope you don't get in trouble. Your mom won't think that –"

"Rachel, it's okay. I'm the one who called you out here remember? You're already doing me a favor by being here." Quinn smiled gently.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… I'm sure."

Rachel looked at Quinn, feeling reassured.

"Okay."

She proceeded to start the car and started driving while turning the radio on to fill the silence.

"Hey, Rachel…"

"Hmm?" She replied, not taking her eyes off the road.

"Thanks for everything. Considering the circumstances, I did enjoy talking with you last night."

Quinn saw Rachel smile.

"You're welcome."

The rest of the car ride went on in comfortable silence, contrasting the many times they had talked before.

Rachel pulled up the driveway. Quinn stiffened when she saw her grandparents' car already parked on the side of the road.

Rachel gave her a reassuring pat on her thigh.

"Just text me if you need me."

"Thanks." Quinn exited the car and waved to Rachel as she reached the porch. After she watched her car disappear, Quinn let herself into the house, hoping she could get to her room without being seen.

Unfortunately for her, Judy and Quinn's grandparents were sitting in the living room and chatting, having already eaten.

"Quinn."

She froze.

"Jesus, Judy, she's hungover!" Her grandfather exclaimed.

"I am not." Quinn defended.

"Well then, you were drinking because I could probably smell that alcohol from outside."

Judy gave Quinn a hard look, clearly disappointed.

"Go take a shower. There's leftovers if you haven't eaten yet." Quinn internally flinched. She'd have preferred it if she would just yell at her.

Knowing she would only make the situation worse by responding, she just walked upstairs.

Quinn smiled to herself. She really didn't regret texting Rachel last night.

By the time she had brushed her teeth and cleaned up, her grandparents had already left. Judy had already washed the dishes and was waiting for her at the kitchen table. Quinn sat down.

"I let you go out, no questions asked. The only thing I asked for was for you to be back by the _afternoon_."

Quinn looked down at the table.

"I thought you had matured by now." She winced.

"I'm sorry."

"Really? Because if you were, you could have called me back or at least let me know that you were sleeping over or doing God knows what. Instead, I had to lie to your grandparents, while getting caught in that lie when you came in the door looking like shit."

"Mom—"

"I know that you don't have anything else to say, so I'm going to let you off the hook. Whatever happened this morning is your last, _absolute last_, chance. Okay?"

"Okay."

"By the way, you're grounded."

Quinn groaned.

"Now get out of my kitchen." Judy got up, probably to go to the liquor cabinet.

Quinn went up to her room, realizing that she also had to deal with Sam. She had multiple missed calls and texts from him, along with voicemails that progressively became hysterical.

Taking a deep breath, she waited for him to pick up.

"_Jesus, Quinn_!" She winced from the volume.

"Hi, Sam."

"_Everyone slept over because they were too drunk to stand! And Kurt told me you left and then no one knew who picked you up? You never picked up your phone or responded to my messages. What the fuck were you thinking_?" Sam yelled.

"First of all, **Sam**. Don't curse at me. And second, I'm not stupid. I called a friend to pick me up when I started feeling sick."

"_And why didn't you ask me?"_

"Last I checked, you were busy."

"_Don't make this about me, you were dancing with other people too."_

Quinn rolled her eyes. Everything always had to be about him.

"I never said that I left because you were dancing with someone else, Sam. I left because I wasn't feeling well and I didn't want to make you leave when you were clearly having a good time."

There was a moment of silence.

"_You're not mad that I was dancing with someone else?"_

"Are _you_ mad that I danced with someone?"

"_Well, yeah." _

"Well, then I guess we're even."

Quinn was about to hang up when she heard his desperate voice on the other line.

"_Quinn, wait. I'm sorry, can we put this all behind us?"_

"Sam, do you not see where this relationship is going?"

There was a pause.

"_Go out with me tomorrow. I'll make it up to you."_

There was a twinge of guilt. She knew he was trying, and she was just sitting here, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"Okay."

"_I'll text you."_ He hung up.

Quinn spent the rest of her Saturday relaxing and getting her thoughts together. She knew there were things that Rachel wasn't telling her, but she knew that prying wouldn't make her tell. Quinn had to stay away. Something about Rachel Berry made her forget to breathe and she didn't like that she had this hold on her.

Quinn was never against gays. If she was then she would be a hypocrite. She had her fair share of experiments and crushes, but no one, not even boys had made her feel the way she felt about Rachel. She had accepted it after that one conversation the night before.

Quinn Fabray had a crush on Rachel Berry, and she didn't care.

* * *

><p>Rachel's mind was reeling by the time she dropped off Quinn.<p>

Last night's conversation was great. She got to know Quinn, and truly felt that she had a connection with her. But there were a few things that were upsetting her.

First, Quinn seemed deeply bothered by Santana and Brittany's relationship. Rachel did get a vibe off of Quinn, and there was Sam. Although Quinn mentioned that they were going to break up, she would be able to find a better boyfriend. She was beautiful.

Last, Quinn had also mentioned a single choir teacher from Carmel. Rachel had been in contact with her biological mom ever since her parents had allowed her to. However, the last year had been rough, and they had lost almost all contact other than a few phone calls which were always rushed. It was during her sophomore year when Rachel started to feel her biological mom growing distant. And still, they weren't really on speaking terms.

Rachel had suspicions when Quinn said her baby was adopted by someone by Carmel. But she didn't want to believe that her own mother wouldn't trust her enough to tell her about something as important as adopting a child.

She looked down at her phone.

She could call her mother and yell at her for not telling her the truth, or at least for not even having the decency to have a longer phone conversation after a year and a half.

Putting her phone away, she decided to wait. Calling at that moment would only cause stress for everyone, and Rachel didn't want to cause any problems for Quinn.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the doorbell rang, causing flashes of light throughout the house.

Noah stood at the door, looking scared for a minute.

"Uh…I didn't try to steal anything or break in."

Rachel chuckled.

"It's okay Noah. We had the lights installed because my dad's deaf."

He looked confused.

"…"

"…because he can't hear the doorbell."

A look of understanding.

"Oh!" He laughed nervously, not happy that he looked so ignorant in front of her.

"You want to come in?"

"Yeah."

"So, we missed you at the party on Friday."

"Sorry, I really wanted to come." It was a lie, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

There was an unfamiliar silence. There were never uncomfortable silences between her and Noah. Rachel's eyebrow went up.

"So, since you couldn't come on Friday…would you want to do something with me tomorrow?" Rachel's heart sank. She wasn't interested in Noah, although he was charming. As much as he made fun of everyone else in the glee club, he never made fun of her.

"I have to ask my dad…"

"Does he have to know?"

"Yes…" She considered not telling Richard.

"Oh…You know, I can ask?" She found it great that Noah cared enough to do this. Usually his dates consisted of a hook up that he forgot about the next day.

But Rachel wasn't interested in him that way. She was interested in a gorgeous blonde who had befriended her. Besides, Noah could possibly be the father of the baby she wasn't sure her mother adopted last year.

But she could never be too sure. What if her mother moved and decided not to tell her because she didn't want to hurt her feelings? And Quinn was most likely straight. If Rachel spent the rest of high school chasing after someone she couldn't have, it would only hurt her.

And Noah was a nice boy. He was attractive, and Rachel _did_ enjoy talking with him.

Before she could answer him, she saw a car pull up. Thankfully, not her mother's.

"My dad's a doctor, he works at weird hours." She cleared up.

"I thought you didn't know who your father was?" He asked.

"My biological father. I'm adopted."

"Oh."

Rachel bit her lip. She hadn't told Noah about her father's hearing impairment, and she feared that Noah would feel awkward talking to a deaf man on such short notice.

She went out, greeting her dad.

"_Dad, this is my friend, Noah."_

Richard looked tired, but delighted that Rachel had brought home a friend.

"Sup?" Noah held out his hand.

He looked down, and took his hand.

"_Is this boy here to ask you out on a date?"_

"He's asking if you're here to ask me out on a date…" She mumbled.

"Yes." Noah suddenly looked nervous. Richard's face had hardened, and he was looking at him intently.

Suddenly, his face broke out in a smile and he hugged Noah.

"_Rachel hasn't gone out since we moved here."_ He went inside, chuckling to himself.

Noah looked at Rachel.

"So…"

"That means he said yes, you can take me out."

He smirked.

"You know, I was going to ask him anyway."

She rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh."

**Review? :]**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is kind of short… I won't be able to update that much until halfway through December…I have finals after break and I really need to study...**

**Anyway, I am seriously really grateful that people are actually reading this. And the reviews are a plus :]] thanks guys. This makes me want to update even more :DD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

Chapter 5

When Puck left, Rachel was a little worried. She liked Noah, but she didn't want to give him any wrong signals or lead him on. And how would Quinn feel if she starting dating the father of her child the day after she trusted her enough to tell her about it?

_Oh God._ She would ruin whatever friendship they had forever.

There was a light tap on her shoulder.

"_Your mother said you weren't in bed this morning."_

Rachel gave her father a guilty smile.

"_Went for a run?"_

He gave her a bored look. She sighed.

"_I went out with a friend last night. We just talked."_

His eyebrows rose.

"_With that boy?"_ His movements were sharper.

"_No! Of course not."_ He seemed to relax a bit.

"_Who then?"_

"_Quinn…"_ He looked confused. He didn't remember his daughter telling him anything about someone named Quinn.

"_Quinn is a girl I met at school. We kind of talked when I first came to school and then we got to know each other better._"

Richard seemed a little suspicious with the answer.

"_In the middle of the night…?"_ She could tell by his expression that he thought she wasn't telling the whole truth. He was right. She didn't tell him that she had drunk texted Rachel at three in the morning, and that Rachel had been crazy enough to go out and pick her up.

"_Yes…"_ She hoped he would drop it. She didn't want to have to ruin his first impression of Quinn. He grunted a bit before turning around. It was Richard's day off, and he didn't want to waste it questioning his daughter.

Rachel grabbed his arm before he could leave. He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. She looked down for a minute, worrying her bottom lip the same way she always did when she was nervous.

"_Have you been talking to Shelby recently?"_ Richard looked even more confused.

"_No… Why do you ask?"_

"_It's not important. She just seems…"_ She didn't really know how to put it.

He looked at her intently.

"_Distracted."_ Her biological mother obviously had to be distracted or else she would have called her or talked with her as much as she used to.

He smiled gently at her.

"_Let's go make breakfast."_

Rachel smiled back. If there was one thing her father liked more than his job, it was food. As she made her way to the kitchen, her phone vibrated. Looking down, Rachel saw Quinn's name on her phone, and her heart skipped a beat.

"_Sam and I are going out tomorrow."_

Rachel's mood suddenly fell. As much as she wanted Quinn to stop stressing, she didn't like Sam. Not one bit.

"_Oh."_ She replied.

There was a small pause as Rachel waited for Quinn.

"_I don't know what to do anymore."_

Rachel wanted to tell her not to go, that Sam wouldn't change and that he wouldn't treat her any different. Did she like Quinn? Or just admire her the way many other girls did? Either way, their relationship wasn't any of Rachel's business.

"_Just do it. Maybe he changed. Give him a chance."_

With that, Rachel decided to end the conversation. She couldn't bring herself to support Quinn's relationship with Sam or tell her to see other guys.

"_Maybe."_ Rachel thought for a moment. She _could_ use this chance to ask Quinn about how she felt about Noah.

"_Quinn?"_

There was a pause.

"_Yeah?"_

Rachel typed the message quickly, wanting to get this over with.

"_Would you be mad if Noah saw other people?"_

She bit her lip, anxious that Quinn would be angry at her for going out with Noah alone.

"_Did he ask you out?"_ Quinn replied after a moment.

"_Yes."_

Rachel started to get nervous as the time between Quinn's replies was getting longer.

"_He came to my house and asked my dad."_

She typed out quickly, before Quinn got the wrong idea.

Suddenly, Rachel's phone vibrated. Quinn was calling her. Anxiously, she picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi Quinn."

"_I'm over Puck you know. Which is why I'm with Sam…kind of."_

"You're not mad?"

"_Why would I be mad? He can see other people if he wants to. And apparently he likes you."_

Rachel felt slightly disappointed that Quinn wasn't against this.

"Oh."

"_Look, if you like him, go for it. I'll make sure he treats you right."_

She wasn't sure if she should be disappointed because Quinn was pushing her to date Noah, or if she should be happy that Quinn could possibly be a good friend.

"I don't know. But we're going out tomorrow."

"_Cool, me too. Keep me posted okay? Tell me how it goes."_

"You too…" Quinn hung up, leaving Rachel feeling bittersweet. She put her phone in her pocket, shoving her feelings and thoughts to the back of her head.

* * *

><p>Rachel made her way downstairs.<p>

Her father was in the kitchen, cutting vegetables. Rachel moved over to him slowly and put her hand on his shoulder.

"_I'll do this."_ Richard smiled at her before grabbing a beer from the fridge.

Rachel proceeded to prepare breakfast, her mind on blonde hair and green eyes. Not paying attention, the knife slipped, slicing her finger. She hissed, throwing the knife into the sink. She felt nauseous as she couldn't look away from the blood slowly coming through. Memories flashed through her thoughts as Rachel watched the blood in sick fascination.

_Rachel slowly opened her eyes. There was a sharp pain as she moved her arm. Shards of glass in her left arm and on her face. Her shoulder hurt the most. It took her a while before she realized that she had been shot. She heard a sharp moan and a whimper. Rachel turned her head towards the noise and cried. She wished she hadn't looked over. _

_Snap out of it Rachel, _she told herself.

Rachel quickly walked to the bathroom, not wanting to worry her father. She stared at herself in the mirror, taking in her appearance. Rachel had accepted everything already, but she hated the way she looked. Every time she looked at herself, she was reminded of the life she once had and could never have again.

Just then, Rachel heard the door open.

"Rachel!" Rachel almost cringed when she heard her mother's voice. She was looking forward to spending the morning with her father, without any awkward moments.

Leaving the bathroom, Kevin sat by the door, waiting for his breakfast. Rachel gave him a gentle pat on the head before making her way to the kitchen. Her mother walked in shortly after, greeting her father with a peck before helping them make breakfast.

"You're here…early." Rachel stated.

"Oh, I decided to take the day off. I needed a break and decided to spend it with the both of you. Your father will probably get called back to the hospital though."

"It's dad's day off..."

"Oh." She brushed it off.

Something was wrong with the way she was talking. Rachel knew her tone and knew that she wasn't back because she was just taking a break. Kate had a tendency to always talk as if everything in the family was going great even if it was painfully obvious that it wasn't.

The Berry family was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

As the three of them set the table, Rachel pulled her mother aside.

"Why are you really back early?"

Kate sat down at the table, Richard following her.

"_I got a call from your school."_ Kate signed as she spoke, not wanting to exclude Richard from the conversation.

Richard looked back and forth between the two, confused at the sudden awkward tension.

"_And?" _Rachel replied cautiously.

"_Apparently you're getting bullied?"_

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"_It's nothing I can't handle, mother."_

Richard's eyebrows were furrowed.

"_What are you talking about? You never told me any of this."_

"_Because it's not a big deal."_ Rachel glared at her mother.

"_I came early because I wanted to talk with you about this. This is serious, Rachel."_ Kate looked at Rachel expectantly.

Rachel almost laughed.

"_It could always be worse, right?"_

Richard started to look conflicted. He didn't want to interrupt the conversation, but he knew it would start getting out of hand.

"Don't make this into something you'll regret. This has nothing to do with _that_." Her mother stopped signing, starting to get angry at Rachel.

"Of course it does! After _you_ let that man into our house, you're always telling us that we're so lucky to be alive—"

Kate got up, her chair knocking backwards.

"Because we _are!_ Don't you dare put the blame on me…"

"I wouldn't if you would just accept that everything _sucks_ and that this family is broken because _you_ refuse to talk about anything." Rachel had gotten up as well.

"There is _nothing_ to talk about! We just have to move on with our lives and deal with what is happening now."

Rachel scoffed.

"So you're just going to forget? I _know_ that you still blame dad."

"Is this what it's about? You're blaming me for this…" Kate moved her hands, gesturing to the space between the three of them.

"…void between us?"

"Maybe." Rachel looked away.

"Rachel, I try. I try to make this family what it was."

Rachel's eyes flashed dangerously.

"This family will _never_ be what it was before. It will _never_ be complete, why can't you just accept that? You don't have to try so hard to make things normal."

"So you're telling me that you're not going to make an effort to fix us?" Her mother looked at her accusingly.

"No! I'm telling you to let things go. Whatever happened already happened and there's nothing we can do about it. You can't just forget that our family went through shit."

"I will _not_ let this family fall apart!" Her mother shrilled, starting to lose her control.

"I'm not telling you to! Why aren't you listening? I'm telling you to accept that it happened and that we can move on from that instead of pretending like it didn't. You can't deny that."

"No. That is not going to be something that will help us build this family."

"So you're just going to pretend like it's not a big deal and that we're just like some other family who 'luckily' survived a car accident or something?" Rachel mocked.

"It is a big deal to me Rachel. But we don't have to let it dictate our lives. Pretending like it never happened will at least give us a sense of normalcy. We _can_ be the way we were—"

"You can't just forget about something as big as that! I have accepted that it happened and used it as a way to make myself stronger. What have you done? You've just acted like it never happened but inside, you still secretly resent dad. Pushing it to the back of your head won't make you feel better, it's just going to ruin your relationship with us." Rachel was breathing hard at this point.

Kate was starting to turn red.

"I do _not_ blame your father. I lost control and didn't know what I was saying before. Rachel, you have to forget—"

"This is ridiculous—" There was a crash as Kate threw her plate off the table. Kevin barked and came to the table, sensing that everyone was upset.

"Let me finish! Why do you have to let this bring you down?"

Rachel looked at her, understanding where she was coming from, but too prideful to back down.

"Because I don't want to pretend like we're a happy family because everyone's not here!" Tears were starting to pool.

"Rachel, I'm sorry about your old dog, but it's not something—"

"See! You're doing it again! Yeah, I'm upset that Shaggie is gone, and even if he was just a dog, it bothers me! But at least I let it show! And by the way, he's not the only one missing from this family, _Mom._ You're forgetting that Charlie was also a part—"

"Don't you _dare_ think that I would forget my own—"

There was another crash as Richard pounded the table with his fist. Rachel and Kate looked over at Richard, who was quiet until now.

"_What in the hell is going on?"_

Rachel felt guilty. After all, Richard was a part of the family too.

"_Nothing."_ Kate replied quickly.

"_Obviously, it's not nothing. And I can still read lips…"_

She looked away. He probably understood most of the conversation anyway.

Rachel was tired. She wanted to make everything easy and forget, but she couldn't. Charlie and Shaggie didn't deserve to be forgotten.

"_How are we supposed to make our family the way it was before if we can't even have a normal conversation?"_ The tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Rachel waited for an answer.

They all couldn't look at each other because they already knew that Rachel was right. They were broken.

Knowing that they couldn't answer, Rachel went upstairs, Kevin right behind her. She closed her bedroom door quietly and sat on the carpet, leaning against the bed. Rachel starting petting Kevin, who panted happily and laid his enormous head in her lap.

"I still love you Kevin." She smiled down at the dog, knowing he probably didn't understand a word she was saying.

Rachel sighed. She knew her parents were close to separating, and to be honest, she didn't mind it. The divorce would give the situation closure, and Rachel would finally be able to stop worrying about the family so much. Sometimes she preferred the harmless bullying at school over being at home.

* * *

><p>Richard grabbed the broom and started cleaning up the broken glass. Kate sat at the table, looking numbly at the wall as she held a glass of liquor in her shaking hand. She had never argued with Rachel like that before. She could also sense that her and Richard would have a talk as well.<p>

He threw the glass out and finished cleaning the table then sat down, looking intently at his wife.

"_We both know what's going to happen._"

Kate laughed bitterly.

"_We already talked about this. We'll divorce once we know that Rachel can take care of herself."_

"_She can take care of herself just fine. She's grown up."_

There was a pause.

"_Do you still hate me?"_ Fresh tears pooled in Kate's eyes as she saw how broken her husband looked.

"_I don't hate you Richard. I just can't look at this family anymore without wondering how things could have gone differently._" She was telling the truth.

There was another pause.

"_Ok."_ Richard got up and went to his office, not knowing whether to argue or apologize even more than he already had ever since the incident.

He sat at his desk and put his head down, emotionally exhausted.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Rachel couldn't stop herself from calling Quinn for the second time that day.<p>

"_Hello?"_ Quinn's voice sounded confused.

"I'm sorry to call you…again…" Rachel felt stupid, and slightly clingy.

There was chuckle.

"_I was the one who called you the first time, remember?"_

Rachel smiled.

"_So what did you need?"_

She didn't really know how to ease into the conversation.

"You're the only person I know that I can talk to about this…"

There was a short silence.

"How did you feel when your parents got a divorce?"

There was only the sound of Quinn's breathing on the other end.

"_Well... to be honest, I felt relieved."_

"Really?"

"_Yeah. There was so much tension, and it was obvious that my parents didn't love each other anymore…and my father was an ass."_

Rachel laughed at that.

"_Why do you ask?"_

"My parents are getting a divorce."

"_You want to talk about it in person?"_

Rachel considered it, but decided not to. She didn't want to seem annoying or whiny.

"No, it's okay. I just needed to let someone know. Honestly, I feel relieved about it too."

"_You're not the only one."_

There was more that she wanted to ask Quinn. She wanted to ask her about the woman who adopted her daughter, but couldn't bring herself to keep asking Quinn such personal questions.

"_It's good that you're taking it well then? I know my sister wasn't too happy about my parents' divorce."_

"Actually I think I am. I think it's better this way."

"_Why is that?"_

Rachel thought for a moment.

"Things happened, and they fell out of love."

"_That's usually what happens."_

"Yeah…"

"_Hey, I'm sorry to rush you, but I'm kind of grounded and my mom won't let me talk on the phone too long or let me out of the house past nine…"_

"Oh! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry…"

"_It's no big deal. Can we talk more tomorrow?"_

"Yeah. Thanks for listening."

"_You're welcome."_

Rachel hung up, feeling a little better about the situation. She didn't know why, but Quinn had been the first person she thought to about Quinn made Rachel feel secure, even if they had only known each other for a couple weeks. At the moment, it didn't matter what kind of feelings Rachel had for her. She was just glad that she _had_ something stable in her life for once.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, I figured I should try to write another chapter as soon as I can before I go back. I'm currently sitting in the car, stuck in traffic. Really bad traffic haha so it's the perfect opportunity for me to start :] **

**I ended up finishing this chapter the day after I got back. The next chapter may be up in about a week or two. Hope you like :DD**

Chapter 6

Sunday morning was slow for Quinn. Trying to avoid her mother, she had eaten breakfast quickly and was now waiting in her room for Sam.

Yesterday had been stressful. Quinn had talked with Rachel many times, yet she couldn't bring herself to really enjoy each conversation. She couldn't understand why Puck of all people would go to Rachel's house in order to ask permission for something as simple as a date.

Puck _never_ did that.

She couldn't get rid of the jealousy that was settling in the pit of her stomach. Rachel liked Puck and it was making Quinn feel sick.

Quinn was also slightly, no extremely, worried about Rachel.

Rachel's parents were getting a divorce, and she didn't seem to care at all. Quinn didn't really care when her parents got a divorce, but Rachel _really_ wasn't worried about it. There had to be a reason why someone was that apathetic. And Rachel didn't seem to have a mental disorder…

_Oh my God! What if I have a crush on some crazy bitch?_ Quinn shook her head, chuckling at her stupidity. There was no way that someone as sweet and caring as Rachel was weird in the head. But there really had to a reason. Quinn didn't really care because her father had kicked her out of the house, which means something bad must have happened to Rachel.

Quinn had to know more about Rachel. She didn't know why but something about her wouldn't let her stay away from her.

She decided to forget about it and made her way downstairs, knowing her boyfriend would come pick her up soon. Yes, Quinn Fabray still had a boyfriend and she cared more about some girl she's only known for a couple weeks than Sam.

Sam's car pulled up her driveway, right on time. Just as Quinn was heading out the door, her mother's voice called out from upstairs.

"I swear to God, Quinn, if you're not back by eleven thirty…"

"I promise!" Quinn ran out and closed the door, while chuckling to herself.

Sam was already out of the car, and moved to the passenger side to open the car door for her.

Quinn felt uneasy. She recognized this process already. Her and Sam would have a fight, he would take her out on a date and be the perfect boyfriend for a day before the process began all over again. They spent most of their time either not speaking, making out, or fighting.

She got in the car wordlessly and watched him walk around the car again.

"So, you wanna get some lunch and then chill?"

Quinn groaned inwardly. By "chill", Sam probably meant cuddling and doing whatever couples always do. Although she couldn't blame him for suggesting it. She _was_ in fact in a relationship.

For now.

"Sure."

She felt him staring at her for a little while before he started the ignition. The ride was silent, but unlike the comfortable silence Quinn had with Rachel, it was awkward and suffocating.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, Quinn got out before Sam could open the door for her.

He quickly locked the door and caught up to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. She felt bad for ignoring him, and proceeded to put her arm around his waist, in order to at least look like a couple.

The hostess sat them at a booth. Quinn sat down first, feeling grateful that she could get away from his embrace.

Lunch went by slowly. Quinn was bored out of her mind and Sam had been on his phone whenever he wasn't eating. She rolled her eyes. At least before, he could at least make it through one conversation. Now, they couldn't even talk on a date.

They finished eating and got up quickly. Quinn ran into a few people she knew, and talked with them politely before hurrying out to the car.

Sam didn't open the car door for her.

Sam decided driving towards his house. Quinn knew what he was thinking, and she couldn't take it anymore. Her stomach turned as she was suddenly nervous. It had to be now or else she would probably get an ulcer thinking more about it.

"Sam."

"Mm?"

"Can you pull over?"

Sam gave her a confused look.

"Why?"

"Because we need to talk."

"Now?"

"Yes."

He looked conflicted, but pulled over anyway. He left the ignition on, feeling impatient.

"What's this about?"

Quinn stayed silent for a while, picking her words carefully.

"When was the last time you enjoyed having a convesation with me?"

"What? Is this that important? My house is—"

"Please." She looked at him, her expression unreadable.

He looked back, stalling for time. In all honesty, he didn't know when.

"I don't know."

"Me neither." Quinn looked at him knowingly.

He shook his head, already knowing where she was going with the conversation.

"We can fix that. I'll start calling you more."

Quinn laughed a little.

"No, we can't. Sam, I think we should break up."

"No!" He took her hand.

"You're not breaking up with me. We can work this out."

She moved her hand away and crossed her arms in front of her.

"You don't want to be with me anymore, Sam. And I can't be with you anymore either. Can't you see that we're both unhappy?"

His eyes narrowed.

"I do want to be with you, Quinn."

Quinn thought for a moment. She knew that she was the main reason for the distance between them. She never talked to him, and she never wanted him to touch her. As a result, Sam started to become frustrated with her.

She knew that it was mostly her, not him. Sam could be a good boyfriend if he wanted to be.

"Well, I don't."

He turned towards her.

"Is there someone else?" His voice lowered dangerously. "Is that why you won't even let me touch you anymore?"

She couldn't really answer that question. She couldn't bring herself to tell him that she fantasized about other things whenever they made out, or that she just couldn't stand to have him touch her for no reason.

He took her silence as a yes.

"It's Puck isn't it? He knocked you up last year and now you want him back?"

"No, it's not. I promise it's not him."

"Then who?" He yelled, startling her.

"There isn't anyone! I just don't like you that way anymore." She felt bad for not telling the whole truth.

"Oh, so now it's my fault. I'm to blame for this shithole that we're in now?"

"No! If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I just don't want to be in a relationship anymore."

Sam was shaking his head furiously.

"This is bullshit. I was the perfect boyfriend for you, Quinn. I did everything you asked me for—"

"I'm sorry, Sam okay? I tried. I tried to like you back, but I can't."

Sam was starting to turn red. It was a blow to his pride. A lot of girls wanted him, and yet Quinn was breaking up with him because she just didn't like him anymore. He didn't understand.

"You can't just suddenly not 'like someone like that anymore'."

"Well, I must be the exception." She didn't mean to sound sarcastic, but it was just how she was.

"I need you to get out of the car." His nose flared a bit. When she didn't, he closed his eyes. "I don't want to do anything I'll regret later, Quinn."

His knuckles were turning white from gripping the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry—" She was really being honest.

"Fuck you!" He exclaimed, angry.

She didn't expect for him to be that angry with her. To be honest, she expected him to be relieved that she was letting him go.

Then again, Sam was usually the one dumping a girl, not the other way around.

Quinn got out of the car, her throat tight, while feeling relieved at the same time. Sam drove away quickly, leaving her on the side of the road.

She couldn't stop the tears from falling as she started walking to Brittany's house, which was the closest to where she was now. Maybe she would let her stay a little before Quinn went home. She didn't want her mom to see her like this.

It didn't take her long to get there, so she stood at the porch, trying to get herself together before ringing the doorbell. She noticed Santana's car in the driveway and cringed. She hoped they wouldn't get too mad at her for interrupting their so called "sexy times".

Brittany opened the door, looking a little red. Her shirt was also on inside out.

"Quinn!" Her face broke out into a smile, enjoying the pleasant surprise.

"_Quinn? What the hell?"_ Quinn heard Santana from the living room. She also swore she heard other moans before they were suddenly cut off.

She winced, knowing they were probably _very_ busy.

"Hey, Brittany."

"Come in!" Brittany grabbed Quinn by the arm, pulling her in the house. Santana scrambled to put something into her bag, then proceeded to turn the tv off.

"My parents went out on their monthly date today. They'll be gone until tonight."

"What are you doing here, Q? We're busy." Quinn smirked.

"Oh, very busy indeed."

"Don't worry Quinn. San's just mad that she didn't get to see them finish—" Santana had jumped up and quickly covered her mouth, looking flustered.

"Okay, Britt. Remember what I said about telling people stuff like that?"

Brittany's face suddenly turned serious, making Quinn smile, before she nodded furiously.

"Of course! You can count on me!"

Santana huffed before she decided to sit back on the couch. After getting over the embarassment from almost getting caught, she took a good look at her friend. Quinn never just stopped by without a warning unless it was for something serious. Like when she got kicked out of her house for getting pregnant in sophomore year.

"Have you been crying?" Santana frowned.

"No."

Santana gave her a look. The kind of look that said _I'm not taking your bullshit._

Quinn crossed her arms in front of her.

"Fine!"

"Fine what?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes…"

Brittany was by Quinn's side, after putting her shirt on properly, and took her hand gently. Quinn looked at the ground before she squeezed back.

They gave her a moment.

"Is it Sam?"

"We broke up."

"Knew it."

Brittany gave Santana a mean look. Or the meanest look she could give.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just that you didn't seem happy before and I remember you telling me you had problems with him."

Quinn was actually just impressed that she remembered her telling her that.

"So what did fish lips do this time?" Santana asked after Quinn's silence.

Quinn looked down at her and Brittany's clasped hands. How did that give her more comfort than her entire relationship with Sam?

"He didn't do anything."

Santana gave her a sympathetic look.

"You gotta give me more than that Q."

Quinn felt the tears start, but refused to let them fall.

"It was me. I just didn't like him anymore, and I couldn't stand it."

Santana raised an eyebrow. Quinn went on.

"Every time we were together I had to think about other things to make me feel good. And he never wanted to talk. Ever. I always had to start a conversation. And I hated it when he touched me. We almost never had sex because I couldn't bring myself to do it."

Both of Santana's eyebrows went up.

"What?"

"I mean, how can I be such a horrible person and hate someone who didn't do anything to me?" She didn't remember when she sat down on the carpet, or when Brittany let go of her hand and started rubbing her back.

Santana came over and sat in front of the both of them.

"Answer this honestly, okay?" She looked Quinn in the eye.

Quinn nodded slowly, not getting where she was going with this.

"Were you thinking about girls?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

She pretended to think about it, even if she knew the answer.

_All the time._

"Sometimes…"

_At least you're not denying it._ She had an idea of where Santana was going with this. She had thought about it before, but for some reason the idea didn't really settle in until now.

"That means all the time."

Quinn scowled at Santana, mostly because she was embarrassed.

"How would you know?" She didn't realize how stupid that question sounded until she said it.

Santana gave her a bored expression.

"You're talking to the hottest lesbian you'll ever meet."

Brittany poked her lightly, silently telling her to be gentle. Although Quinn was not against homosexuality, the process of accepting oneself is always difficult.

"Look, I went through everything you went through when I was accepting it."

Quinn thought about it for a while.

It _did_ make sense to her. Why she always thought of other _women_ when she was with Sam. Recently, she only thought of one person.

"Are you saying I'm gay?"

"I don't know. Are you?"

She didn't know. Any girl could be attracted to other girls, but that didn't mean they were a lesbian.

Santana saw the conflicting emotions on Quinn's face.

"Look, I'm not trying to force you to out yourself."

Quinn shook her head.

"It's not that I'm scared. Honestly, coming out is not half as bad as getting pregnant and kicked out of the house."

"So you are gay?"

"It's complicated." Quinn didn't know how to tell her that without giving away the fact that she indeed had a crush on someone. She would never hear the end of it.

_There, I admit it. I do have a crush on Rachel Berry. A girl who likes my ex and would probably never date me._

"So… you like girls, but you just realized that now because you like _a_ girl."

The two were surprised when Brittany suddenly spoke up.

"I used to like girls and guys and just thought of myself as bicurious until I started thinking about only girls."

Quinn couldn't accept that she liked Rachel until that moment, when it all sank in. Honestly, she had never had a crush on anyone before. She felt the same about everyone she went out with. But Rachel was different. She was the first person to take Quinn's breath away after singing one note. The first person that Quinn could trust after just meeting them. And she was the first person that Quinn thought about all the time.

"I thought it was a phase." Quinn sniffed. She was open to everything, but coming out to her mom would be hell. After everything they had been through, Quinn was just starting to get closer to her mom. She would ruin all chances if she told her she was gay.

Even worse, Rachel would stay away from her and never speak to her again if she didn't feel the same way.

Brittany patted her thigh.

"Whoever it is, I'm sure they'll like you no matter what."

Santana got up.

"Well, we're not going to push you to tell us who it is."

Quinn was surprised.

"You're not?"

"Whatever, it's your business. And you took it a lot better than I did, so you get kudos for that."

She started walking to the kitchen and stopped short as she passed the window.

"Although, I do need to know one thing…"

"What?"

She turned to Quinn and Brittany, who were still sitting on the carpet.

"Where's your car?"

Quinn blushed a bit.

"I walked."

Santana's eyebrows went up.

"You walked all the way from your house?"

Suddenly, the tears came back. She sniffed again and couldn't help the tears from falling. All the emotions she kept inside were surfacing as she started thinking about why she was at Brittany's house in the first place.

Brittany frowned.

"I mean, it's cool if you like to walk. Exercise is nice… "Santana looked nervously at Quinn and Brittany. She didn't think asking that would upset Quinn so much, and knowing Britt, she would get in trouble for it.

Quinn started sobbing.

Brittany looked very concerned as she helped Quinn to the couch. Santana started looking anxious.

"Okay, I'm sorry! You don't have to answer that."

They gave her a moment, Santana sitting on one side and Brittany on the other with her arm around Quinn.

Quinn sighed after getting herself together.

"We broke up in the car."

"And?"

"He told me to get out."

Santana stood up suddenly.

"Did he threaten you?"

"No! I mean… Yes. But it was my fault, and it's not like he was going to actually hurt me." Quinn didn't want to start any trouble. There was already enough going through her head, and she didn't need to worry about Santana getting suspended.

"You don't know that! Quinn, no matter how much of it was your fault, he has no right to threaten you."

"Well, it's fine because I got out of the car."

Santana shook her head before sitting back, her arm thrown over the couch behind Quinn and Brittany.

"Well, his fish mouth better stay shut next time or I'll kick his ass. Even if I hate yours." Santana smirked at Quinn.

Quinn smiled gratefully at her.

"Anyway, since you've interrupted our alone time, you need anything else?"

Brittany reached behind Quinn and started stroking Santana's arm. Quinn suddenly felt guilty for taking what little time they had alone.

"Actually I do… if you don't mind."

She was embarrassed that she had to ask them to hang out with her before taking her home.

"Can you take me home in a couple hours? I don't want my mom to know about this."

Santana was about to make a joke until she saw Quinn's face. She seemed confused and embarrassed. She hit her on the back playfully.

"Sure. You can watch a couple movies… While I catch up on my Britt time."

Quinn looked horrified for a moment.

"Not the ones that…"

Santana chuckled.

"Not unless you want to. And you have to keep your hands to yourself."

Quinn turned cherry red.

"Why do you have to be so perverted…"

Brittany got up and went to sit in Santana's lap, put her arm around her neck and proceeded to play with her hair.

"Don't worry Q. You're San's best friend. She loves you too much to do anything bad to you."

Quinn crossed her arms in front of her, feeling warm inside while Santana huffed.

"And I love you too." Brittany smiled then leaned over and kissed Quinn on the cheek.

* * *

><p>Quinn fell asleep while trying to ignore her best friends cuddling and kissing on the other side of the couch. She didn't even remember which movies they had watched when she woke up. Regardless, she couldn't deny that she missed just sitting around or taking a nap with her friends.<p>

Brittany's parents had come in. That was probably what woke her from her nap.

Santana and Brittany had separated by then. Even if Brittany's parents knew about their relationship, showing their daughter being intimate with someone else was probably not a good idea.

Quinn was relieved that she hadn't slept past eleven thirty or her mother would have grounded her for the rest of her life.

Santana got up.

"I'll take you home, Q." She gave Brittany a hug and headed towards the door after greeting the Pierce's.

Quinn got up and gave Brittany a hug as well.

"Thanks a bunch."

Brittany smiled and squeezed her a little.

"Feel better okay?"

Quinn nodded before following Santana out the door. She ran up to the car and got in quickly. It didn't take too long to get to Quinn's house and before she knew it they were parked on the side of the road.

"Santana?"

"Mmm?"

"I trust you. But just to make sure… No one can ever know."

Santana looked thoughtful.

Quinn started playing with her hands. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with Rachel. She knew Rachel wasn't the type of person to be homophobic, but she didn't want to risk anything. She didn't know her well enough yet. Besides, whether or not Rachel returned those feelings, Quinn knew that she would be willing to suppress them if it meant staying friends with Rachel.

"You know, whoever it is, you'll have to tell them how you feel eventually or else it will kill you to see them with someone else."

Santana hadn't seen Quinn talk with many girls other than her and Brittany and the glee girls. Quinn was her best friend, but even she couldn't really read her that well. Quinn hid her feelings very well.

But Santana was her _best friend._ She knew Quinn's quirks, and she had noticed her slight change in behavior. Especially after Rachel Berry had come around.

She had her suspicions, but she wouldn't assume just yet.

Quinn sat there, taking in Santana's advice. She was right. But for now, she would wait.

_I seem to have a lot of important conversations in cars…._ She randomly thought to herself. Her mind went back to the first real conversation she had with Rachel, the last one she would probably ever have with Sam, and to one of countless others she had with Santana.

Quinn decided to let Santana go, not wanting to keep her up late, and not wanting to get emotional in front of her.

But instead of leaving, she surprised the both of them by leaning over and hugging her.

"I'm really glad you and Britt are my friends." She said honestly.

Santana was too shocked to make a sarcastic remark and just patted her on the back.

"See you tomorrow."

Quinn got out and climbed the steps of the porch. She turned around and waved, before going in the house. After making sure her mother saw her back before her curfew, she went to her room, suddenly feeling tired.

She went to bed that night, not sure what exactly she was feeling after the ups and downs of her day.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, I lied. I'm seriously in the "I don't care anymore" phase and I ended up procrastinating and starting another chapter… My finals start next week and I'm supposed to be using this week to prepare, but I guess I care more about Glee…**

**This chapter is a tad bit shorter than the more recent ones I put up, but I still put some plot development in here. Also, I apologize to anyone who doesn't like the new ship I'm going to introduce here. Personally, I kinda thought it was kinda cute and I thought of a way to develop the plot with it.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :]] Btw I reeeeeally appreciate all the nice reviews and everything. I really didn't expect my first story to get any attention at all haha. You guys make me so happy :']**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

Chapter 7

Noah was anxious.

His date with Rachel had been fine, considering she rejected him. She had made it clear that she wasn't looking for a relationship, and he had been surprisingly kind about it although he was slightly disappointed. Although he wasn't nervous about her rejection of him. He thought back to the conversation he had with her just before he left her house.

"_Noah, I'd just like to say that I commend you for behaving yourself today. I have heard some bad rumors about you, but let me tell you that I don't believe all of them." Rachel smiled next to him while standing at her front door._

_Noah felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. He wasn't used to anyone taking him seriously. There was a lot going on in his head though. He was slightly disappointed that Rachel wasn't interested him. At all. _

_Noah Puckerman was one of the most popular kids at McKinley High. _

_But at the same time, he really didn't mind. Rachel was different than anyone else. He was drawn to her, and maybe even felt the need to protect her. Although at first he had planned to take her back to his place and hopefully get to second base. But something was different about the way Noah felt about her at first. She had a striking resemblance to someone he knew and he had thought about it ever since he first saw her._

"_Noah?"_

_He hadn't realized that he was staring. _

"_Huh?"_

_Rachel was looking at the ground, nervous. _

"_Can I ask you something… personal?"_

_She took his hand and led him to the bench on the porch._

"_Sure." He said once they had sat down._

"_Who was the woman who adopted your daughter?"_

_Noah looked taken aback for a moment. There was an awkward silence. The first that the two had ever had._

"_Uh…"_

"_You don't have to answer if you don't want to... It's just that Quinn told me about everything and I didn't want to keep asking her so many questions."_

_She started biting her lip. He looked away, considering whether or not it was a good idea to tell her. But at the same time, there were things he had to know as well._

"_She's a choir teacher at Carmel. Her name is Shelby Corcoran." _

_Rachel looked defeated. When she didn't say anything, he went on._

"…_do you know her?" He prayed that his suspicions were wrong._

_She looked conflicted. For a moment he thought she was going to cry. Rachel shook her head and he breathed a sigh of relief._

_His breath caught for a split second though when she looked at him._

"_Yes."_

"_How?" He had a feeling that she knew Shelby more than he hoped._

_Rachel shook her head again, starting to look more upset. He put his hand on her shoulder._

"_She's my mom."_

_Noah started looking concerned._

"_Why wouldn't she tell me? She came back into my life and then just decides to ignore me again?"_

_She was crying now. He started rubbing her back, but she continued to cry harder._

"_You know, I really thought that we were making progress."_

"_I'm sorry, Rachel."_

_The two of them sat there while Rachel started to get herself together, head leaning on Noah's shoulder._

"_Noah?" She asked a couple minute later._

"_Hmm?"_

"_Can I ask you something else?"_

_Rachel lifted her head off his shoulder to look him in the eye._

"_Why did you ask me out?"_

_He frowned._

"_What do you mean?"_

_She turned towards him._

"_You didn't seem disappointed at all when I told you I wasn't interested in a hook up."_

"_Honestly?" _

_Rachel nodded._

"_At first I just wanted a date. But you're different. You don't let stupid things bother you like most of the other girls here." He said this as his thumb caressed the imperfections on her arm. _

_Rachel laughed nervously, feeling flattered and embarrassed._

"_For some reason, whenever I'm around you, I feel like you don't judge me the way other girls do."_

"_And…" He wasn't sure if he should tell her more._

"_You remind me of someone."_

_Rachel's eyebrow went up slightly. _

"_I'm not going to lie. I wanted to go out with you to hook up at first."_

_Rachel smiled, surprised that Noah would spill all his personal feelings to her after knowing her for only a few weeks._

"_You know what?" Rachel asked._

"_What?"_

"_At first I only came on this date because I was lonely. I've never had real friends before. At least any in high school…" She looked down and took her arm away from him._

"_You wanna know something that no one else knows?"_

_He nodded, looking concerned._

"_I think I like someone. Someone I shouldn't like."_

_Noah looked at her thoughtfully._

"_Me too." He said._

_She frowned, not understanding where he was going with this._

"_I like someone too. And no one knows either." _

_**Someone I shouldn't like either.**__ He thought to himself. But she didn't need to know that. _

_Not yet at least._

Noah hit the steering wheel hard when he came to a stop at his house.

Rachel trusted him enough to tell him all that, and yet he was too scared to tell her the truth. She didn't know that he would go to Shelby's house every other Sunday to be with Beth. He never told her that he was the one who told Shelby that she shouldn't tell her biological daughter about her adopted one.

He didn't mean it. Shelby didn't want her real daughter to feel replaced, and felt stressed about the decision. And Noah only wanted Shelby to be _certainly_ wouldn't enjoy knowing that he had a crush on her _mother. _But it wasn't just an immature school crush.

Noah liked Shelby the way he used to like Quinn. He knew it was wrong. It was _so_ wrong, but he couldn't help it.

He would have to keep that a secret for now.

He couldn't tell Rachel that he thought about that night he had with Shelby, and how she rejected him most of the night. Or that he promised to keep it in his pants if it meant he could keep coming back to see her and Beth. That he went out with Rachel because she looked _so much_ like her.

Noah genuinely liked Rachel. She was different than all his other friends. If she knew the truth, she would be heartbroken.

He decided to think about it later and walked tiredly to his house.

* * *

><p>Glee practice that week had been filled with awkward tension.<p>

Mr. Schue and the football coach, Coach Beiste were holding a mandatory collaboration between the football team and the glee club in order to settle all the issues they had between each other. Sam was sitting with the football team.

On top of that, Rachel and Puck had performed a duet that day.

Quinn loved Puck like a brother, but at the moment, she couldn't help but have the desire to strangle him out of her jealousy. Rachel seemed extremely happy singing with him.

Just then, Santana and Brittany came in, both of them looking unhappy. Santana looked irritated while Brittany looked worried. They didn't even acknowledge the football players in the room as Santana handed Mr. Schue their pass.

"Okay! Coach Beiste and I…" Mr. Schue started droning on about how everyone would perform the half time show for the football game that week. Something about mash ups and whatnot.

Quinn however, was not paying attention at all. She was observing Rachel and Puck the whole time while trying to look bored or nonchalant.

Looking down, she noticed Rachel's hand on his leg, trying to calm him down after Azimio Adams had poked fun at his masculinity.

She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling the urge to get up.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel looking at her. She had quickly removed her hand from Puck's leg while biting her lip.

_Don't look._ Quinn told herself while staring hard at her lap.

"Quinn?"

Her head snapped up.

"What?"

"We're taking a vote to see which mash up everyone wants to sing for the half time show."

"The first one." She quickly looked up at the board, picking the first title she saw. She made the mistake of looking at Rachel while her attention was diverted, and found her looking at her.

The both of them quickly looked away.

Azimio had suddenly stood up, the movement catching everyone's attention, including Quinn.

"There is no way I am putting no zombie makeup and shit on. I have my pride and I refuse to look like a drag queen."

"Azimio, it's part of the plan. Everyone has to do it."

"I don't understand why we have to do this. It's just a stupid song. We don't need makeup to perform." Another boy said, feeling brave enough to speak up. He looked around, hoping for some support when his eyes landed on Rachel for a moment.

"Well, except maybe her." He muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, some people had heard him. Puck immediately got up to punch his lights out while Rachel grabbed his arm in vain. A couple other players stood up with the attempt to defend their friend.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn didn't realize she said anything until she noticed the silence and everyone's eyes on her.

She got up. Her adrenaline was already rushing.

"You have something to say?"

The kid didn't say anything. All the guys in glee and the team had stood up. Coach Beiste and Mr. Schue had also started trying to hold people back.

"Back off." She moved to stand in front of him, daring him to say anything else.

He looked around, knowing that there was nothing he could say without the situation ending badly for him, and sat down.

Quinn sat down as well, her face feeling hot.

Everyone seemed to have calmed down, and Mr. Schue continued with the mash up. By the end of the rehearsal, everyone had reluctantly agreed to the terms.

Before Quinn could leave, Santana grabbed her arm.

"Q, we gotta talk."

She frowned before she was dragged out of the room. She turned around, meeting eyes with Rachel for a split second.

"What's this about?" Quinn said once they were in the bathroom.

"Me and Britts are going to quit Cheerios."

"Um. Okay. Why?"

"Coach tried to convince Britt to shoot herself out of a fucking canon."

The three of them stood there for a while.

"There's one more thing."

"What?" She started to get worried.

"The cheer competition is on the same day as the game. And if we don't go then she's kicking us off. I'm not dealing with this anymore. I can still kick anyone's ass here; I don't need a stupid title to protect us."

"Quinn, we're just warning you so you have time to make your decision. But me and San are giving our uniforms back by tomorrow." Brittany said afterwards.

The both of them left, leaving Quinn to decide. Honestly, she wanted to quit so badly, but cheerleading was the only thing that kept Quinn from being targeted. She hated to admit it but Santana was stronger than her. Quinn couldn't handle confrontations as well as she could.

"Quinn?"

She snapped out of her daydream and looked up. Rachel Berry stood in front of her.

"Hi Rachel."

"Are you okay?"

"Coach is telling us that if we don't miss the half time show then we're kicked off the Cheerios." Quinn blurted out.

Rachel stepped forward a little bit.

"And have you decided yet?" She asked gently.

"If I didn't care about people talking about me, then making a decision would be easy. Truth is, I hate cheerleading. So much." Quinn crossed her arms in front of herself.

Rachel took her hand.

"If you hate cheerleading more than you care about your reputation, then you'll know. Quinn, you have so many friends that care about you and will protect you even if those jocks decide to poke fun at you. And besides, you're a lot stronger than you think."

Quinn laughed bitterly.

"And why is that?" She asked, unconvinced.

"Because you didn't hesitate to defend me in front of the entire football team. No one's ever done that for me before."

Rachel suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you."

Quinn was at a loss for words, and just said whatever she could think of first.

"Um… you're welcome." She hugged back, enjoying the way Rachel's body fit into hers.

They separated.

"Before we leave, can I just clear something up with you?" Rachel asked hesitantly?

"Sure…"

"Noah and I aren't together. We went on a date but we're only friends."

Quinn thought for a moment.

"I don't like Puck like that anymore."

"Oh…" Rachel looked at the ground.

"Do you want to hang out later?" Quinn couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth after a long silence.

Rachel looked surprised for a minute.

"Are you sure that Sam wouldn't mind? I mean, you guys never get time alone with all your practices and stuff…"

"I broke up with Sam. Turns out what you told me was true. Besides, he never had any business in when I wanted to hang out with my friends."

Rachel broke out into a smile.

"Okay."

"We could go to Puck's party after the game, if you want to hang out a bit before going…" Quinn hoped she would say yes. There was never anything to do in Lima, and going to the party afterwards would give Quinn a chance to talk more with her.

"I usually don't do parties…"

Quinn waited for an answer.

"…but I guess it's okay. And I do miss dancing."

"Great."

The two of them walked out of the bathroom.

"So um… my parents are never really home. If you want to hang at my place and then get ready before the party."

Quinn thought about it for a moment.

"Sure." It would be a good opportunity for Quinn to be able to get to know Rachel better.

They parted ways and Quinn's hand still tingled as she walked to her car.

It wasn't until she was driving that she realized that she was still grounded. By then, she was so giddy about her 'date' with Rachel that she told herself she would figure it out by the end of the week.

* * *

><p>By the time Rachel got home, she was feeling many different emotions. First, she had found a good friend in Noah. Then there was Quinn, who gave off mixed signals whenever they talked. Rachel almost felt as though Quinn had asked her out on a date today. Yet, every time Quinn gave any mention of <em>anything<em> that seemed even the _slightest_ bit gay, she would back off.

Rachel was very familiar with homosexual relationships. She wouldn't exactly label herself, but she had many encounters with other girls in her lifetime.

Yet Quinn was different than the other girls she felt attracted to. Rachel indeed found Quinn attractive, but she didn't just feel attracted towards her. She felt the need to be closer with her. She even wanted to tell Quinn her secrets and to be around her all the time.

Rachel had never admitted she had a crush on anyone because she never felt that way around anyone before. How was she supposed to know if she had a crush on Quinn Fabray if she didn't know what having a crush _felt_ like?

_If this isn't what a crush feels like, then imagine what love is like._ Rachel said to herself.

She went upstairs to her room, Kevin right on her heels.

As she lay on her bed, Rachel could imagine herself being with Quinn.

She could see herself _liking_ Quinn. But she couldn't guess if Quinn would like her _back._

Would Quinn still want to be her friend if she knew who Rachel's mother was? Or if she knew what she went through, or worse, what she caused? No one wanted to be with someone that was broken.

Rachel's heart ached as she thought of the day that ruined her family forever.

Shaking her head, she pushed it to the back of her mind.

_It could always be worse._ Her mother's words echoed in her head. She hated it when Kate would say those words to her. Why couldn't she just feel sorry for herself?

She chuckled as she realized that was exactly what she was doing.

"Whatever." She muttered to herself. Rachel had things to look forward to. She wasn't going to let her head get to her, preventing her from enjoying her life

**Once again, I'm sorry if there's anyone who doesn't like the idea of Puck with Shelby :[ But for some reason I wanted to put them in here and also I plan on using it to help with the plot later on. Thanks for reading :DD**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks guys for sticking around! I really appreciate the reviews and everything keep them coming hehe they really motivate me :]] I'm totally procrastinating on studying haha…**

Chapter 8

Quinn smoothed out the front of her cheerleading uniform. How many times had she considered turning in her uniform?

She had lost track. Even when she was kicked off the squad, she still came back.

She thought about how disappointed Santana, Brittany, and the Glee club would all be if she chose cheerleading over them. How disappointed would Rachel be? Especially after how much Rachel had complimented her in the bathroom the day before.

Rachel had asked her if she had hated cheerleading more than she cared about her reputation.

For Quinn, the question was if she cared more about _Rachel._

She groaned, having the urge to hit herself.

_I hate myself sometimes._ She felt like such a coward sometimes.

"I can do this." Quinn said to herself, more confidently. If she really did like Rachel, or cared about Santana and Brittany, she would do this. Her face fell. She didn't need it. All it did was cause her stress. If all her friends could handle the bullying every once in a while, then she could to.

Quinn walked to her closet, taking out a pair of sneakers that she hadn't worn to school in a long time. She rummaged through her clothes, taking out a pair of jeans and a plain shirt. She thought a moment before also taking out an old hoodie.

Maybe if she dressed down no one would notice her.

At least if she got slushied, she wouldn't care about ruining her outfit.

She took off her uniform and stuffed it into a plastic bag before grabbing her keys. She ran into her mother in the kitchen as she was walking out of the house. Judy raised an eyebrow at Quinn.

"I'm quitting."

It was all she said before she walked out to her car.

She didn't notice her mother's smile of approval.

Quinn parked in the same space she parked in everyday, and scanned the parking lot for any jocks. She exited her car cautiously and speed walked to the door. A few jocks saw her and paid her no mind. A wave of relief swept through her. The one good thing about high school was that gossip only lasted so long and it seemed that her pregnancy was old news.

When Quinn had walked through the doors of McKinley high that day, she was pleased with how little the school cared about her anymore. Her younger self would disagree, she enjoyed the lack of stares. Although there were a few surprised and curious glances, no one paid her any mind. She hoped to keep it that way.

She walked to her first class of the day, feeling good about herself. Scanning the room, she noticed Santana and Brittany, looking happy and even more comfortable with each other. Quinn envied their relationship. They loved each other so much, and no matter what happened, they would always have each other.

In the back were a couple open seats. As she was about to walk towards them, she felt a gentle hand on the small of her back.

"So I guess you made your decision." Rachel said softly.

Quinn smiled at her. Rachel smiled back, and led her to the back of the room, while lightly holding the sleeve of Quinn's hoodie.

Quinn was usually the one doing the leading in any relationship, but she realized she kind of liked the idea of having Rachel take charge of a situation for once.

The rest of the class was difficult.

She found herself observing Rachel the entire time, watching the way her hand moved elegantly while taking notes, and the way Rachel's head was angled with her silky brown locks falling perfectly over her face.

Quinn found it hard to contain her feelings. Once she had accepted it, she couldn't help but notice all the things she liked about Rachel Berry.

To Quinn, Rachel was strong, talented, beautiful, and confident. Rachel never covered her scars, nor did she look away or seem embarrassed when someone stared at her for too long.

Her soft, gentle eyes had an almost fragile and broken look to them, but Quinn liked it anyway. There was nothing that she disliked about her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn saw Rachel observing her as well. She took the chance and looked over, only to be met with Rachel's gentle gaze. The two didn't break eye contact for a while, until the bell rang and forced them apart.

"Um. Will you do something with me?" Quinn asked suddenly, voice cracking from the lack of use.

Rachel nodded.

"Will you come with me to Coach's office?" She moved to take out a plastic bag that Rachel assumed was her cheerleading uniform.

Rachel smiled widely before taking the bag from Quinn. She looped her arm through Quinn's, lightly grabbing her bicep then proceeded to walk out the door.

"Of course."

As they walked through the halls, they both received a few looks. Quinn didn't care. She focused on just the two of them.

She couldn't help the small feeling of arousal that started in the pit of her stomach. Rachel was walking, leading the both of them to Sue's office while her soft body molded perfectly with Quinn's.

When they arrived, Quinn grudgingly took her uniform and the bag from Rachel.

She knocked on the door hesitantly, her support standing behind her. There was no answer.

"Coach?"

She licked her lips before turning to Rachel.

Rachel gave her a shrug.

Quinn walked into the office and found it empty. Coach had probably left for a little bit. Quinn couldn't bear the thought of making the journey to Sue Sylvester's office again, so she took the time to write a polite but completely fake thank you note and left the bag on the desk.

She quickly left the office and closed the door, taking Rachel by the hand without thinking and leading the way to anywhere. At the moment, she was more terrified about getting caught in Sue's office.

Unfortunately for her, Sue Sylvester had arrived just as Quinn started walking. Sue looked angry as always, while Quinn's eyes went wide.

Quinn didn't think and made a mad dash with Rachel in tow.

They ran to the hallway, all the while receiving a few strange looks from the other kids.

It wasn't until they arrived at Quinn's locker that they realized how ridiculous the whole situation was. Quinn couldn't help but giggle a little bit. Her back hit the lockers as Rachel chuckled and started taking her books out for next class.

"Thanks." Quinn said once she caught her breath.

"You're very welcome Quinn."

The two walked in comfortable silence as Quinn took Rachel to her next class.

Quinn went to her class a little late, but she didn't care. For once in her life she felt free and she didn't care about her reputation the way she used to.

Santana and Brittany both looked at Quinn with confused expressions.

Since when had Quinn ever looked that happy before?

Santana poked Quinn in the arm, who scowled in return.

"_What?"_ she whispered.

"_What's up with you?"_

"_Nothing. Just happy I decided to quit."_ Quinn said a little too quickly.

Santana narrowed her eyes at her, knowing there was indeed something else.

Her attention was diverted back to Brittany, who started playing with Santana's hand.

* * *

><p>Quinn didn't even realize when it was time for glee. She had been daydreaming all day, thinking about Friday night.<p>

She walked into the choir room filled with her _real_ friends and the football team. She caught eyes with Sam, who was sitting with the jocks.

He gave her a once over, looking mildly surprised at her change in attire. She ignored him and sat next to Mercedes, who proceeded to start a friendly conversation.

She looked up just in time to see Rachel and Puck come in together. Rachel was smiling at something Puck had said, and Quinn couldn't help but smile as well.

Rachel's smile was contagious.

"Okay! We only have a couple rehearsals left…" Mr. Schue walked in soon after.

Rachel and Puck walked over and sat in the two empty seats next to Quinn.

Quinn wouldn't have admitted it at the time, but she actually enjoyed rehearsing in glee club without having to worry about anything else.

As Coach Beiste and Mr. Schue were observing the choreography, the rest of the class practiced hard. Quinn was so caught up in her own thoughts and stepped too far. She felt another body collide into hers, and grabbed onto the first person she could find.

She blushed hard when she realized that she was holding onto Sam's arm.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Rachel apologized as soon as she realized who she had run into.

"It's fine…" Quinn mumbled, quickly letting go of Sam.

He looked at Quinn longingly, but gave her space.

"I'm sorry…" Rachel apologized again, looking embarrassed.

"You don't have to apologize. It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention." Quinn said.

"Girls." Mr. Schue interrupted them.

The rest of the rehearsal went on with no interruptions or mistakes, surprisingly.

At the end, Quinn saw Rachel talking animatedly with Puck and Finn. She debated whether or not she should go to them, but the rest of the glee club had already started talking with Quinn.

"I'm really glad you chose glee." Mike had said to her as Tina nodded in agreement.

Brittany and Santana both gave her a hug and Quinn felt an ache in her chest.

She didn't deserve her friends, but she was happy she had them. She gave her friends a smile.

A real smile.

Puck came over and put his arm around her.

"Hey, why don't you, me, and Rachel go get some food after this? Santana and Brittany too."

They all nodded in agreement.

"And Finn." Rachel said, smiling.

"Well, he's my best friend so he's included anyway." Puck said, punching his friend in the arm.

Finn looked surprised, but nodded as well.

The six of them walked out of the choir room and started heading towards the parking lot.

"Hey, my car is on the other side, so I'll just meet you guys there."

Finn left, leaving the five of them.

Puck had his arm around Rachel as they walked. Santana and Brittany were holding hands as they walked.

Quinn suddenly felt like a fifth wheel.

Suddenly, Rachel grabbed Quinn's arm and brought her closer, looping her arm through Quinn's while her other arm was around Puck's waist.

To anyone, they might have looked like one tight knit group of friends.

If Quinn wasn't so distracted by Rachel next to her, she might have thrown up from the 'cuteness'.

They all separated and said their goodbyes before driving to the restaurant.

Everyone arrived at Breadstix on time. Lima didn't really have any place else worth eating at. After getting a booth, they all chatted and caught up with each other's lives.

"Dude, you better make sure your arm isn't sore by the game or I swear to God…" Puck warned Finn from across the table.

"Dude, worry about yourself." Finn rolled his eyes at him. He leaned back, and involuntarily looked down Brittany's top. Santana leaned over and glared at him over Brittany. He gave her a goofy grin and she sighed, while Brittany was completely oblivious.

Puck leaned on the table, chin in his hand, looking bored.

"And if you're going to try and perv, at least be good at it."

Finn scowled.

Rachel sat in between Puck and Quinn, with Puck on the outside. Rachel and Quinn looked on silently, smiling to themselves.

Suddenly, Rachel leaned closely into Quinn.

"You look really pretty today, Quinn."

Quinn looked at her, confused and flattered. It was amazing how much of a difference it made to Quinn when it was Rachel telling her that she was pretty instead of Sam.

Although, she found it hard to believe that she was dressed nicely today. Quinn looked at herself, taking in her old hoodie and jeans.

"I didn't mean it like that."

Quinn's eyes snapped back up.

"Well, I don't mean that you look ugly in a hoodie…"

Quinn smirked, and turned to Rachel, her elbow on the table.

"Then what did you mean exactly?"

Rachel blushed a little, feeling embarrassed for not knowing what to say.

"You're a lot prettier when you smile for real. And today… you did."

Quinn's 'cool' façade slipped a bit.

She hid it well though, and smiled before turning to look at their bantering friends and relaxing. Her thigh touched Rachel's.

The waitress came to collect their drink orders and stood at the end of the table.

Quinn suddenly felt Rachel bouncing her leg slightly and looked over at her. She looked uncomfortable.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked around. Quinn's eyes fell to the waitress, who was taking their orders, but staring intently at Rachel, who muttered out that she wanted water.

"Quinn." She looked up. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to order a drink.

"Water." She said quickly before putting her hand on Rachel's leg, trying to offer some sort of comfort.

The waitress left, but not before taking another glance at Rachel.

"Anyway. The other team doesn't have shit on us…" Puck went on, while Finn agreed.

Santana and Brittany were having their own conversation while holding hands. Quinn hoped that it was all they were doing because the two of them would giggle occasionally.

Rachel had stopped shaking her leg.

"So… I was thinking we could do original songs for sectionals…"

"Sounds good." Quinn replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We've never done something like that before."

Quinn moved her hand, not wanting Rachel to think she was coming onto her.

"By the way, do you have anything you want to do on Friday? My parents are never home."

"Doesn't matter to me. I'm sure we can find something to do."

"Okay…" Rachel trailed off as the waitress came back.

Quinn looked at the waitress, who was once again looking at Rachel while trying not to look like she was. Rachel was looking at her lap.

They gave their orders once again. Quinn was starting to get annoyed.

"Yes?" She said, giving the waitress a hard look.

She looked startled as everyone's attention was on her.

"Sorry…"

Quinn arched an eyebrow.

"It's just that… I feel like I've seen her before. I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's okay." Rachel said. Quinn looked at her, concerned.

Rachel looked back and gave Quinn an unconvincing smile.

The food arrived and they all went back to their normal conversations.

When they finished, the waitress brought the check back, making sure not to make eye contact with Quinn or Rachel.

They all got up and were about to walk out the door when a voice called out.

"Rachel!"

Rachel froze. Everyone looked at her.

A woman got up and ran over to them. A man followed her and stood behind, politely letting the two have their conversation.

"Sammy…" Rachel couldn't finish before the woman pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you." She whispered into Rachel's ear.

Quinn saw tears pool in Rachel's eyes before she hugged back, and buried her face into the woman's shoulder. She held her tighter.

Quinn suddenly felt bad for watching, but was extremely curious while also feeling a hint of jealousy. This 'Sammy' was no ordinary person. She was gorgeous. Quinn felt intimidated by those clear blue eyes and long brown hair which seemed way too perfect to be real. She looked to the other person. He wasn't so bad himself with blue eyes just like Sammy, and blonde hair.

They finally separated.

"I wanted to come and visit, but we thought it would be best to give you some space." Sammy turned to look at the man standing behind her.

Rachel looked to her friends, suddenly realizing that they were in a restaurant. She left quickly, everyone following except Sammy and whoever was with her, as they had to pay the bill.

"Um, those were some friends I had before I moved here. Samantha is the girl and Nathan is her brother."

Everyone seemed unconvinced. No one had a strong reaction like that from just seeing an old friend.

"We'll leave you to it then." Brittany finally spoke up, sensing that Rachel needed some time alone.

The two came out of the restaurant and started walking towards the group and Rachel hugged everyone goodbye.

Rachel hugged Quinn for a little longer.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

Quinn turned to leave but was stopped by Rachel, who grabbed her sleeve.

"Thank you Quinn. For defending me again."

Quinn shrugged.

"That's what friends are supposed to do." Rachel smiled as Quinn walked to her car.

Rachel watched her friends drive away one by one and then turned to the two standing patiently in front of her.

"Do you want to talk at home?" Rachel asked, finally breaking the silence.

Sammy nodded before looking at Nathan, who went to get to the car. She followed.

"Sammy?"

"Yes?" She turned around, looking back hesitantly.

"I missed you too."

* * *

><p>Rachel opened the door to the house, letting them in.<p>

Kevin ran up to greet the new guests.

Nathan bent down to pet the shaggy dog, who instantly laid down and silently asked for him to rub his belly.

"They got you a dog?"

Rachel nodded.

"His name is Kevin."

Nathan's eyebrows went up.

"I didn't name him. He was adopted…"

He chuckled.

"We wanted to come for your birthday, but we didn't know how you would take it, so we were going to come afterwards instead… but we ran into you at the restaurant."

Rachel looked down before moving to sit on the couch.

Sammy gave her brother a look before they followed, her sitting next to Rachel and Nathan sitting on the carpet with the dog.

"…Were your friends taking you out for your birthday today?" Sammy asked cautiously.

Rachel shook her head, the tears were starting again.

"They didn't know."

"Why not?"

"Because… I didn't tell them." Rachel sniffed once.

Sam moved closer.

"Because if they knew then they would all be asking questions about if I was excited to be seventeen or if I was seventeen… or whatever."

"And?"

"And I'd either have to lie or tell them that I'm really eighteen."

"There's nothing wrong with being older than your friends Rachel."

"Yes there is!" Rachel huffed and gave her an apologetic look for yelling. "Sorry…"

"They would know that I'm not supposed to be a junior and—"

Sammy grabbed her hand.

"Honey, there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not like you failed out of anything. You were _hurt, _Rachel. And I clearly remember that you were hurt _badly._ There is nothing wrong with that."

Rachel wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"Well, then they would want to know more and there's just too much to tell and I am not ready to tell yet." She sat back, feeling tired.

"You could have visited. I didn't need space, you know."

Sammy looked sad.

"I'm sorry. I would have called but I had a feeling that you wouldn't be in the mood to talk very much. And I also needed some time to think."

The three of them sat in silence for a minute.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Rachel finally asked.

Sam laughed a little.

"No."

"You should. She would want you to." Rachel looked at her.

Sam sat back as well, looking thoughtful.

"I know. But I just haven't found the right person."

"It's okay to move on Sammy. It was a long time ago."

She smiled at Rachel.

"Shouldn't I be the one giving you advice?"

They both laughed.

"So have you met any nice boys?" Nathan asked suddenly.

"Yes, I've met some nice guys, but none that I'm interested in."

"Good. Because I didn't really like the punk with the mohawk…"

Rachel giggled a bit.

"Noah's actually one of my best friends. I like him a lot. But not like that…"

"Then who do you like?"

Rachel was suddenly serious.

"I don't know yet."

Sam and Nathan both looked at each other but dropped the subject.

"Nathan, are you still like taking pictures?" Rachel asked.

"Yup. Got a studio to get back to." Nathan said proudly.

"Good." Rachel said.

"Anyway, we've gotta go soon. I was planning on trying to avoid Kate. She never did like me… wonder why." Sam said jokingly.

"Well, you _did_ have pink hair…" Rachel rolled her eyes.

The both of them turned to walk out the door.

"One more thing." Sammy dug around her purse and took out a picture frame.

"We didn't really know what to get for your birthday so we settled on this."

Rachel gave them both a hug.

"Thanks."

"Rachel, I know we're not that close, but I really want to catch up. We live about six hours away, but we wouldn't hesitate to come see you again. You can always drop by too if you want."

They exchanged numbers.

"I'll call you. Both of you." Rachel said honestly.

She waved as they drove away.

She closed the door, making sure to lock it before she looked down at the picture frame.

It held a picture of three girls. Rachel smiled as she saw a high school version of Sammy with hot pink highlights and a nose piercing. A beautiful blonde was leaning into Sammy, eyes closed and smiling. Their foreheads were touching.

And in the blonde's arms was a laughing eight year old Rachel, who was looking happily up at Sam.

Rachel remembered when that picture was taken by Nathan.

"_Please?"_

_The blonde girl asked Sam, who scowled. They were sitting on a blanket in the afternoon sun._

"_Fine!" Sammy finally said. She could never resist those gentle brown eyes._

_A young Rachel giggled from the blonde's lap and clapped excitedly._

"_Yay! I can't wait to sing to the sharks and the dolphins and the fish." She said as she looked up at the pink haired rebel._

_The blonde smiled and leaned over to kiss Sam on the cheek, who instantly smiled. Sam moved to put her arm around the blonde's waist, and moved closer to her so that their foreheads were touching._

_Suddenly there was a click. Nathan had moved to take a picture of them. They all stared._

"_What? You'll thank me for it later."_

She didn't realize that she had started to cry again. She really did miss those days.

Brushing off her tears, she laughed as she realized that Nathan had been right and went upstairs to put the picture on her nightstand.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Finished one of my finals this week. I had some spare time so I decided to start another chapter :DD I hope you enjoy the story… :] **

Chapter 9

Quinn walked in the house to find her mother cleaning.

"You're back home…early."

"Well hello to you too, Quinn."

Judy kept cleaning as Quinn stood at the door looking awkward. The two of them hadn't really had a proper conversation ever since the incident with Quinn's grandparents. Quinn shuffled her feet and decided to walk over to the couch and sat down quietly. Her mother stopped and put her hands on her hips.

"What is it now?"

Quinn mashed her lips between her teeth.

"I'm sorry about the party."

Her mother sat down on the couch with her. Quinn crossed her arms in front of herself. Judy narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, you're not trying to get out of your punishment, are you?"

Quinn shook her head.

Judy arched an eyebrow at her.

"Well… kind of. But it's not like that. It's just that, we've haven't had a real conversation ever since."

Judy sighed and hugged her daughter.

"Quinnie, I didn't mean to make it seem as though I was mad. I was disappointed for a while, but I still love you."

Quinn scrunched her face up for a bit.

"Mom, when you said you wouldn't ever leave me again, did you mean it?"

Judy looked horrified for a moment.

"You're not pregnant again are you?"

"No." She said quickly. "Um… I broke up with Sam. I went to the party and came home with a friend but we fell asleep… that's why I was late."

Judy relaxed, but was still worried.

"Then what is it?"

"Mom… please don't freak out, okay?"

"Okay…"

"I'm gay."

Silence.

"Mom?"

Judy was turned away from Quinn.

"Quinn, was that story you told me about why you were late true?"

Quinn was confused.

"Yes…"

"And you weren't late because you were too hung over?"

"No…"

"Right then." Judy got up quickly. Quinn got up as well. Was her mom too shocked? Many thoughts went through her head.

"Quinn, no matter what you do, I will never abandon you again. And since you seem to have matured now, you're no longer grounded."

Quinn's eyes watered a little.

"Mom..."

"Oh, stop crying. You go up to your room and do whatever you do, while I go to the kitchen and get myself a drink…" She walked away, leaving an extremely smiley Quinn.

* * *

><p>The day had finally come. Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry would finally have their first "hang out". But Quinn would have rather called it a date. She nervously held her backpack in one hand as she stood in Rachel's room.<p>

Rachel's room was… interesting. But it wasn't strange.

Bookshelves covered Rachel's blue walls. Books, DVD's, and pictures littered the shelves. Quinn chuckled when she saw Rachel's purple blanket that was covered in teddy bears. Amongst the matching striped pillows sat a stuffed elephant. A few articles of clothing scattered the carpet, along with a couple of books and a TV remote. On the night stand was a bowl of lollipops and a bag of gummy bears.

Quinn put her bag down and walked over to the shelves. Pictures of people who she assumed were Rachel's parents in picture frames were scattered on the shelves in no particular order. There were many pictures of Rachel's white dog and a couple older pictures of Rachel with another dog. Quinn assumed Rachel was into photography until she saw the small copyright on a couple of the old abstract pictures. Looking closer, she made out the name Nathan.

_Must have been that guy from the restaurant._

Something out of the corner of her eye caught Quinn's attention. There was one shelf that had a few pictures of Rachel when she was younger. Almost all of them also contained a beautiful blonde with brown eyes. There was another picture of Rachel with the same blonde and a girl that Quinn guessed was Samantha. She was surprised that the elegant woman from the restaurant was the same teen rebel in the photo.

Quinn continued occupying herself with Rachel's collection when her eyes fell on another picture in the corner of the shelf.

She froze.

Quinn immediately recognized that face.

It was a picture of Shelby Corcoran, but a lot younger than she was now. She was sat on a bench, smiling with her legs crossed. Next to her was a boy dressed in old jeans and a dirty shirt, sitting on the back of the bench.

_Why would Rachel have a picture of Shelby?_

She looked closer at the picture, finding a strange resemblance between Shelby and Rachel. She didn't notice before, but seeing a picture of Shelby at around the same age as Rachel made it a lot easier to see the similarities. Even worse, the boy in the picture looked similar to Rachel as well.

She didn't even know that she had stopped breathing.

"I'm sorry about the mess."

Quinn whipped around.

Rachel stood by the door looking embarrassed. She took in Quinn nervous face. Her eyes flickered to the photo of Shelby and her father.

_Oh no._

Quinn saw Rachel look at the photo and knew what she was thinking. Rachel gave her a sad expression. Quinn gave her a look. One that said, _I have to know._ After all, Rachel had a picture of the woman who adopted Quinn's baby sitting on her bookshelf.

Rachel sighed, knowing she couldn't avoid the subject any longer.

"Would you like to take a walk with me? Kevin has to go out once I get back from school…"

"Okay." Quinn said. She felt bad for making Rachel nervous.

She followed Rachel wordlessly down the stairs and watched her leash the excited dog. They walked out of the house and walked for a couple minutes until Rachel spoke up.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Shelby sooner."

Quinn walked in silence, letting Rachel finished.

"When you described your daughter's—"

"Beth."

Rachel's eyes snapped to Quinn's. Quinn blushed.

"Her name is Beth. Sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean…"

They walked a little longer, watching Kevin sniff at every plant they passed.

"When you talked about the person who adopted Beth, I had a feeling I knew who it was."

They reached the park that Rachel came to everyday and sat on the bench. Rachel let Kevin off the leash and the two of them watched him run around happily and chase after the squirrels.

"So when I went on that date with Noah, I asked him and he told me."

Rachel let out another sigh before continuing.

"Shelby is my biological mom, Quinn. My parents started letting me contact her and I got to know her a little. Until…" She trailed off.

"Until what?" Quinn coaxed gently.

"She just stopped visiting or calling at all. I had to call her, and each conversation we had would last less than five minutes. For all of last year."

Quinn didn't know what to say. How was she going to talk with Rachel when the reason why her own mother wasn't talking to her was because of Quinn?

"Quinn, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you when I found it. It's just that I didn't know how you would feel if you knew that Shelby was my mom and that I went out on a date with the father of your child. But Noah and I aren't dating, and we're not interested in each other—"

Quinn cut her off with a hug.

"Rachel, you have nothing to be sorry about. I could care less about that. Besides, I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry that your mom stopped talking to you because of me."

Rachel held Quinn tighter.

"Don't be." It was all she could say.

They separated and started walking back to Rachel's house in comfortable silence. Quinn's hand brushed against Rachel's once. Cautiously, she took Rachel's hand in hers, entwining their fingers. She became nervous when she didn't respond at first.

She let out the breath she had been holding when Rachel squeezed back.

They got back to the house and decided to make some lunch before watching a movie. They wanted to have as much energy before going to the party that night.

They ordered pizza and started making cookies. Or heating up cookie dough that was store bought. Quinn started opening the package, secretly sticking cookie dough in her mouth whenever Rachel turned around.

Quinn sat on the stool at the counter, putting half of the cookie dough on the tray, while eating the other half. Rachel's head was buried in the cabinet, looking for snacks.

"Hey, do you like cheetoes? My dad is obsessed with them so we have way too many left. They'll probably expire before we can eat them all." She turned around suddenly.

Quinn's finger was in her mouth, eating cookie dough. She froze.

"Uh…"

"Did you just…" Rachel looked down.

"There are only four cookies on the tray…"

"Heh…" Quinn gave her an apologetic smile.

"Cookie dough is horrible for you." Rachel said before she turned back around.

"So are cheetoes." Quinn gave her a smug smile. Rachel turned around again, hands on her hips.

"Well then. You can go get sick off of cookie dough. I don't understand why people like eating cookies raw."

Quinn's eyes went wide.

"Have you ever _tried_ eating cookie dough before?"

"No…" Rachel said cautiously.

"Cookie dough is the best thing ever! There's a reason why someone invented cookie dough _ice cream._"

Rachel scrunched her nose and shook her head. Quinn walked over with the package of cookie dough in her hand. Rachel took a step back. Quinn held the cookie dough out to her.

"Try some."

Rachel crossed her arms in front of herself and shook her head.

"A tiny bit won't hurt you."

She looked uncertain. Quinn held the package in front of her. It _did_ smell good. Reluctantly, Rachel took a small amount on her finger. She held it up to her face, examining it while looking conflicted. Slowly, she stuck it in her mouth, chewing it carefully.

Quinn swallowed hard as she watched Rachel lick the rest of the cookie dough off of her finger slowly. To her, Rachel looked almost seductive as she looked down at the ground with a contemplative expression. Her eyes narrowed, and then looked back up at Quinn.

"It was okay." It was all she said before she turned around to get a drink.

Rachel was lying. She thought that the cookie dough was the best thing she had tasted in a while, but her pride wouldn't let her admit it.

Quinn gave a nervous laugh.

There was a knock on the door. Rachel left the kitchen to get the pizza.

The girls ended up on the carpet in Rachel's room, eating pizza and cookie dough. They figured that since Quinn ate most of it, it wasn't worth going through the trouble to make four cookies.

Several hours later, a movie was playing quietly as it started to get dark outside. Kevin slept in between the girls and the TV while Rachel was lying down behind him, half asleep. Quinn sat against Rachel's bed.

Suddenly the phone rang, causing Kevin's ears to go up a bit.

"Ignore it." Came Rachel's lethargic reply.

The phone rang twice before the answering machine came on.

"_Rachel! It's your aunt and uncle! And your cousins." _

Rachel got up, curious and listened more carefully.

"_We're so sorry we missed it, but happy eighteenth! Hey, maybe if we all go on vacation your cousins can take you out. Talk to you later! We're sending gifts by the way…"_

Rachel cringed inwardly. Now she actually wished she had given her extended family her cell phone number.

She slowly looked up at Quinn, who was sitting cross legged on the floor, eyebrow raised with a puzzled expression.

"When was your birthday?" Quinn asked, looking at Rachel intently.

Rachel worried her bottom lip.

"Um… yesterday."

"Is that why those two people were there to see you?"

"Kind of…" Rachel looked down, refusing to meet Quinn's eyes.

Quinn looked away, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. A thought occurred to her as she waited for Rachel to elaborate.

"So… you're eighteen?"

Quinn moved closer and put a comforting hand on Rachel's back as she saw how upset she started to get. Rachel nodded once.

"Did you start school late or…?"

Rachel started petting her dog. She didn't really know what to say or how to explain it without having to tell Quinn anything too personal.

"Rachel I'm not going to judge you, whether or not you started school late or got held back… It doesn't matter to me."

Rachel couldn't believe her luck. She always did a good job of hiding her past life and her feelings. Why did she always feel so strange around Quinn? And why couldn't she ever hide anything from Quinn? It seemed as if fate was against her, always putting Quinn at the worst place at the worst time.

"I got held back a year. But not because I failed."

Rachel looked up at Quinn hesitantly. Quinn's hazel eyes looked back at her gently.

"I got hurt when I was young."

Quinn cautiously brought her hand up and stroked Rachel's cheek. Her thumb grazed the scar under her eye.

"Was it because of this?"

Rachel nodded.

"Remember when I told you in the car about my accident?"

Quinn nodded this time.

"I didn't just 'fall' into a mirror. I got really hurt. It was so bad that it took me a while to recover and I had to go through some therapy for PTSD. I mean, I had to go through with therapy for a while afterwards but I could still go to school after I physically got better and stuff… So I missed a year of school for that. And…"

Rachel started to look uncomfortable.

"It's okay Rachel. You don't have to tell me anything yet."

Rachel sighed, turning to put her face against Quinn's neck. It felt nice being so close to Quinn. She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach when she breathed in Quinn's shampoo. How did one person make her feel so much?

"I'm sorry."

Quinn put her arms around Rachel, holding her tight.

They stayed that way until they were both cramped.

"So you still want to go to that party?" Quinn asked once they had separated.

Rachel smiled and nodded.

* * *

><p>Quinn drove the both of them to the party. They had both stuck to jeans and a nice top, not wanting to give off any wrong signals.<p>

Quinn had just gotten out of a bad relationship, and she wasn't interested in another. When they got to the basement, the party was already in full swing. It was mostly dark, with people dancing in the middle, drinks in hand.

Quinn went over to Puck's liquor cabinet, taking out the things reserved only for close friends. Rachel stood close to Quinn, looking nervously at their surroundings.

Rachel barely ever went out. She was never close with many people. But Rachel was strong and outgoing. She could have fun if she wanted to. And she loved to dance.

Quinn offered her a drink.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sam was dancing while taking a few glances in Rachel and Quinn's direction. She ignored him and downed her first drink.

After socializing with the glee club, both the girls felt buzzed and felt brave enough to go to the dance floor. Santana and Brittany were already there, receiving jealous and lustful stares.

Quinn felt a tug and looked to Rachel who held her hand, giving her a smirk.

"You don't have to pay attention to them." She yelled over the noise.

Rachel turned, facing away from Quinn and started grinding into her. Quinn matched her rhythm, hips swaying perfectly with the music. Rachel reached her arm above her to tangle her fingers with Quinn's blonde locks. Quinn closed her eyes and put her hands on Rachel's waist, running her hands over her jeans and slightly under Rachel's purple shirt.

Suddenly, Rachel turned around and faced Quinn. She leaned over, making their foreheads touch. She swore she heard her moan. Rachel had her arms around Quinn's neck and was breathing hard. Quinn's hands started to caress Rachel's back. She wasn't drunk enough to go any lower and she was afraid of Rachel's reaction if she tried touching her anywhere else.

Quinn's jeans suddenly felt a little too tight.

Rachel grabbed her by her belt loops and pulled her even closer so that their hips were impossibly close. She didn't know why she was being so forward, but she just couldn't contain herself. They danced harder, stepping closer to each other that they could hear each other breathe. Their dance started getting heated until the music was suddenly cut off.

They whipped around, as did everyone else, to the speakers that suddenly stopped working. Quinn looked around.

Puck was scrambling to try and fix the speakers, while Finn tried helping. Santana and Brittany had disappeared. Sam was getting a lap dance.

Quinn rolled her eyes, disappointed that they had to stop so suddenly. Rachel was giggling with her hands around Quinn's neck. She frowned.

She didn't remember Rachel getting drunk. They only had enough to feel a buzz. Quinn wasn't planning on getting drunk that night.

She ducked her head to look at Rachel.

Rachel looked up at her, clear eyed and not drunk. She put Quinn's arm around herself.

"Don't be disappointed Quinn, I'm sure they'll fix it."

Quinn felt butterflies in her stomach and nodded.

When the music was still not working, Quinn pulled Rachel upstairs to get away from the people who had resorted to drinking games.

She found Puck's room and locked the door, not wanting anyone else to come in and fell onto the bed, exasperated. The night had been going well.

Rachel collapsed onto the bed as well.

"God, I haven't danced in so long, I'm already tired." She whined softly as she turned to bury her face in the blanket.

Quinn chuckled and turned to face her.

"But you had fun right?"

Rachel sat up. Quinn followed.

"This day was great Quinn. I don't remember the last time I actually felt comfortable around someone."

Rachel lied down again.

"I really like you Quinn. You're one of the best people I've ever met."

Quinn's heart skipped a beat when she said that, but was disappointed.

_At least she didn't say friend._ Her mind kept telling her.

She closed her eyes, trying to gather up the courage to say something. Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone vibrated.

"_It's Rachel isn't it?"_ Santana was texting her.

What the hell? She would have thought that she would be busy…

"_Shouldn't you be…idk doing something?"_ Quinn texted back.

"_Britts kept asking who it was that you liked."_

Rachel was up again and looking at Quinn.

"_But aren't you afraid of coming out, even a little?" _Quinn asked.

"_I used to but who cares now?"_

Her phone vibrated again.

"_Besides, it helps that my parents don't talk to anyone. They'll never know unless I tell them."_

Quinn put her phone down.

"What's wrong?" Rachel was still looking at Quinn.

"Talking with Santana. She was giving me some advice." Quinn replied.

_You know, whoever it is, you'll have to tell them how you feel eventually or else it will kill you to see them with someone else. _She remembered those words clearly. Her phone vibrated again, and this time Quinn ignored it. It barely registered in the back of her mind that the music had started playing again.

"I like you too Rachel. But not like a friend."

Rachel looked confused for a moment before her face fell.

Quinn's heart was pounding.

"But… why?"

"Because you're you. There's something about you Rachel. And I can't stop these feelings I have for you. You're talented, beautiful, strong…" The adrenaline was rushing.

Rachel shook her head.

"I'm not strong." There was a haunted look on her face.

Quinn frowned and moved to hold her hand.

"Rachel, I don't know what you went through. But you bounced back, you're doing great in school, you can sing, and you don't let anything stop you from enjoying life. In my eyes, you _are_ strong."

Rachel looked down at their hands.

"When?"

"When did I know?"

Rachel nodded.

"When you auditioned for Glee. I thought you were the most beautiful person I'd ever met."

Rachel smiled.

There was a moment of silence as the two let the words settle in.

"You know when I started liking you? "

Quinn shook her head.

"I didn't know it at the time, but it was when you defended me against that cheerleader. I thought you were hot. I mean, I was so into you that I was conscious about everything because I wanted to impress you." Rachel smiled shyly.

"So does this mean you'll be my… "

"Girlfriend?" Rachel finished for her.

Quinn nodded once.

Rachel thought about answering, but changed her mind, leaning in to press her lips to Quinn's.

The both of them saw fireworks. Quinn felt intoxicated by the smell of Rachel. She would never smell vanilla the same way again. Little did she know was that Rachel was thinking the same way about Quinn's berry scented shampoo.

Even if it was one touch of their lips that didn't go any farther than that, it was perfect. It didn't matter that Rachel was scarred, or that she was Shelby's daughter, or that Quinn got pregnant when she was only 16 and had a daughter that she gave up for adoption. They embraced each other's flaws, and pressed their lips together again, separating and coming back together again. Tongues met hesitantly, massaging each other. That moment was perfect.

It didn't matter that they could taste the alcohol on each other. Nothing in the world mattered at that moment, because they were in heaven.

**Review? :]] Thanks for reading~**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** **So the day was going well… and then I got a text from my sister telling me that my parents are taking my dog back. Ever since I went to college, no one has been taking care of her as much and my mom gets bad asthma (confirmed by the doctor) so they're taking her back :[[ I decided to write another chapter though because I found it weird that a dog affected me so much LOL. Anyway hope you enjoy! :]**

Chapter 10

Rachel sat up against the headboard on her bed. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through blonde locks, while half listening to the sound of the TV in her room.

"Rachel…"

"Hmm." Rachel looked down to see hazel green eyes looking up at her. She continued playing with Quinn's hair.

Quinn opened her eyes and turned to look at the TV again.

"How worried are you about… being out?"

The hand that was massaging Quinn's head stopped. Quinn cringed inwardly, almost regretting the question. But she had to ask.

"Well… I might not be completely flaunting my sexuality at this school or even to my parents but…" She trailed off. Quinn got up slowly.

"I did have a girlfriend once. And we were out to people, but it just didn't work out and we broke up. I didn't mind being out."

"So… you wouldn't mind holding my hand at school? I mean, we've been doing it for a while and I don't know how you feel because you don't say anything when I hold your hand and sometimes you hold my hand too..." She trailed off.

Rachel tilted her head towards Quinn, who started rambling again.

"I mean… I don't mind waiting if you're uncomfortable but no matter what I want everyone to know that you're…"

"Mine?" Rachel finished for her.

Quinn blushed and nodded. She nervously started playing with the hem of Rachel's hoodie. Rachel moved her hand to grasp Quinn's, entwining their fingers for what must have been the hundredth time that night.

"Well, then I want everyone to know that you're mine as well."

Quinn looked down at their connected hands. She didn't think she would ever get over the butterflies in her stomach. Every touch to Quinn would always feel like the first. She smiled and laid her head back down on Rachel's lap before another thought occurred to her.

"So what was her name?" Quinn asked nonchalantly as to not appear jealous.

There was silence. Quinn got up again only to be met with Rachel's amused expression. She made sure to look at her seriously.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Kayla."

"Oh." Quinn looked around, but was unable to hide the fact that she wanted to know more. Rachel observed her for a little while.

"Was she pretty?"

Rachel's eyebrows rose. Quinn couldn't really hide her pout.

"I guess so…"

"Did you like her a lot?"

She looked at Quinn, who was still looking around the room while trying not to seem too curious.

"…at the time."

Rachel lightly grabbed her face and turned her around.

"Quinn she was my girlfriend a long time ago and we had our good times. But remember, there's a reason that you're my girlfriend now and she's not."

Quinn crossed her arms, looking slightly annoyed.

"I know that." She said while pouting a little.

Rachel smirked and leaned forward to graze her nose against Quinn's.

"You're really cute when you're jealous." She gave her a goofy smile until she realized what Rachel had just said to her.

"I'm not jealous!"

Rachel rolled her eyes again.

* * *

><p>School was definitely not as bad as Quinn thought it would be. There were always going to be a few curious or even disgusted looks from the other kids, but that was always expected from a place like Lima. She was so nervous the first time that she held Rachel's hand in public. It didn't matter though. Although some kids were immature enough to harass them, it wasn't something either of them couldn't handle.<p>

Besides, they had the whole glee club as support.

Quinn had always thought coming out would be painful. She didn't really have to worry. McKinley High's attention span was so short that new gossip was always floating around every two weeks.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light kiss on the corner of her mouth and a light squeeze from the arm wrapped around her waist.

She looked around the lunch table, seeing all the glee kids chatting animatedly about possibly winning nationals and prom.

What were they going to do about prom? Quinn suddenly thought to herself. She enjoyed and was comfortable being out, but she didn't want to push her limits by being so affectionate in public. She was still scared to do any more than peck Rachel on the mouth when the hallways were crowded.

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel whispered in her ear while stroking the skin under Quinn's shirt with her thumb.

"A lot of stuff." She answered honestly.

Rachel removed her arm and took Quinn's hand, holding it on top of the table. She faced her, a curious expression on her face.

"Like what?" She asked, tilting her head.

Quinn gently ran her fingers over the scars on Rachel's arm. Ever since their first kiss, Quinn and Rachel couldn't stay away from each other, spending every minute of their free time together for the past couple months.

"It's not that important. We can talk about it tonight." She replied with a smile and gave Rachel's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Meet you at your locker before glee?" Rachel asked, dropping the subject.

Quinn nodded before standing, still holding Rachel's hand. She led Rachel out of the cafeteria and through the empty hallways in order to get some alone time with her before their next class. These days, even an hour and half away from Rachel seemed unbearable.

They stood between two rows of lockers, with Rachel leaning against the wall.

Quinn stood in front of her, caressing Rachel's cheek while occasionally threading her fingers through silky chestnut brown locks. Quinn felt something strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It started out small as she started dating Rachel, but Quinn couldn't stop the feeling from swelling to her chest every time she saw her. It was at that moment that Quinn decided that she would do it. She would ask Rachel to the prom, and hopefully she would say yes. She just didn't know when to ask.

"Quinn."

"Mmm."

Quinn moved her hands to wrap her arms around Rachel's waist and leaned forward to bury her face in her neck, lightly kissing it before leaning back again.

"What's on your mind?"

Rachel started rubbing her hands up and down Quinn's back. Quinn felt a spark of heat pool in the pit of her stomach.

She extremely enjoyed cuddling and making out with Rachel, but that was as far as they had ever gone. And Rachel was _extremely_ attractive. Her soft curves, perfect body, and gentle hands would turn _anyone_ on. And with or without scars, Rachel was gorgeous. Her eyes always gazed right through anyone. Quinn could go on for hours about Rachel's face and personality.

"Us."

"Oh? And what about us?"

Quinn lightly tightened her hold on Rachel's waist.

"You know everything about me."

"…and?" Rachel asked hesitantly. Her hands stilled and she looped her arms around Quinn's neck.

"…and I don't know everything about you."

Rachel looked down, suddenly not looking as comfortable as she was when they first started the conversation.

"You don't have to spill everything…" Quinn said quickly.

"It's just that I notice that you cry sometimes before you sleep." Quinn went on with a pained expression. "And it kills me that you're dealing with this alone."

Rachel looked up into Quinn's comforting gaze. She sighed and buried her face into Quinn's chest.

"I'm sorry." She muttered. "I don't want to put this on you already. And it's too painful to talk about it."

Quinn wrapped her arms tightly around her girlfriend, feeling an ache in her chest.

"That's what relationships are for, Rach. We're there for each other. You'll be there for me when I need it, and I'll always be there for you."

Rachel nodded against her chest.

"I'm not asking you to tell me everything right now. Just whenever you're ready. I want to support you."

Rachel looked up again, slightly teary eyed this time and gave Quinn a smile.

She leaned up slightly to place her lips over hers once, twice. Quinn immediately returned the kiss, sliding her lips over Rachel's. She felt a soft, wet tongue swipe over her bottom lip and opened her mouth. She almost moaned when their tongues touched.

They reluctantly separated when the bell suddenly rang, forcing them apart, and the first of the students started filling the halls.

Quinn tenderly kissed Rachel one last time before watching her go into the classroom. She turned to walk to her class and stopped.

Someone had tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around and found herself face to face with Sam. He had a sad look on his face.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked without even greeting her.

"Doing what?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"I really liked you Quinn. And then you broke up with me for not 'liking me anymore' and now you're dating…. Rachel Berry?" He asked with a strange expression on his face.

"First of all…" She began while pushing him out of her personal space.

"I really like Rachel okay? So what if she has a few scars? She's hot either way and anyone would be lucky to have her. Just because she doesn't throw herself at the athletic teams doesn't mean that she's not worth being friends with."

"I didn't mean it like that—"

"Then what did you mean?"

Sam rubbed the back of his neck.

"The guys talk. They think I made you gay. There's nothing wrong with Rachel. I mean, some of them really dig her, but they don't want to talk with her because she's in glee."

"I seriously don't understand what the whole deal with glee is…" Quinn said exasperatedly while throwing her hands up in defeat.

Sam shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you Quinn. And kicking you out of the car. "

She sighed.

"Sam, you didn't turn me gay or anything. I know that you're a good boyfriend. It's just that I honestly only started dating you because I didn't know what I really wanted. And I'm sorry for that too."

Sam starting shuffling his feet while looking at the ground.

"I really wish that I could still be your friend but… I don't think I can."

Quinn frowned a bit but covered it up immediately.

"It's okay Sam."

He awkwardly moved to give her a hug, but she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"See you around." She said before he smiled a little and gave her an awkward hug anyway. They went their separate ways, with Quinn feeling regretful but also relieved.

* * *

><p>Rachel walked inside her house, feeling excited. She had a wide smile on her face.<p>

"_Rachel, will you go to the prom with me?" Quinn suddenly blurted out as the two of them were walking to the parking lot._

_Rachel froze for a moment._

"_Are… are you sure?" _

_Quinn looked confused for a moment._

"_Of course."_

_She started biting her lip, a nervous habit she tended to do often._

"_I would love to go with you Quinn but…."_

_They had stopped walking._

"_But what?" Quinn asked._

"_I don't know…" Rachel took Quinn's hand._

"_It's just that… prom is about getting dressed up and looking pretty and going with the perfect date."_

_Quinn arched an eyebrow._

"_And?"_

_Rachel gave her a look._

"_As much as I can usually deal with people staring at me, I still get self conscious about…"_

_Quinn turned Rachel to face her._

"_Rachel, trust me. You are my perfect date and I can bet you that you'll be prettier than all the girls at the prom."_

Of course, after Quinn's _very_ convincing words and kisses, Rachel had more than happily said yes. She put down her bag and keys and walked around.

Rachel looked around the living room, expecting Kevin to come greet her and frowned when he didn't show.

"Kevin?" She called out cautiously, while feeling a little scared.

She heard a sob come from her father's office and slowly made her way to the door. Her eyebrows were furrowed before she hesitantly opened the door.

Tears instantly pooled in her eyes.

Richard sat at his desk with his head in his hands, sobbing. Kevin was lying down in front of the desk, whimpering occasionally.

She had never seen her father cry this much ever since she was a young girl. She moved to go to him and didn't even take another step when she sobbed. She stood there, trying to gather herself while old memories haunted her mind once more.

_Rachel was in pain._

_She lay prone on the hospital bed, crying silently. Sobbing hurt too much. Sammy was sitting next to her, covering Rachel's ears with her hands while trying to fight off her own tears unsuccessfully. Her highlighted hair was messy, and she looked like she had been crying for hours._

_Rachel looked at the scene before her, helpless and unable to block out the conversation._

"_Get out!"_

_Kate was sitting on the other side of Rachel, facing away from Rachel and Sammy. A bandage covered her head and a bruise was forming on her cheek. Her face was distorted by tears and anger. _

_Richard stood at the door, tears streaming down his face. His eyes were badly bruised and swollen shut and his cheek was split as if he were hit repeatedly. His nose was also swollen and purple._

_He looked devastated as he stepped forward once._

"_**Kate…**" He signed the best he could with his shaking hands._

_The nurses were behind him, trying to calm the both of them down, but their words fell on deaf ears._

"_Don't get any closer or I swear to God… " She didn't even sign, knowing that he could perfectly understand what she meant._

"_**Please. I'm sorry—**"_

"_I hate you!" Kate made sure to sign this as she said it in order for the words to sink in and cut deep. It worked._

_Richard stood there, not moving. He looked crushed, his face filled with sorrow._

_The nurses came in, gently leading Rachel's parents out of the room. Rachel turned her head into Sammy's neck, feeling like her life was just turned upside down._

Rachel composed herself and shook her head free of the memories. She walked over to her father and sat down on the desk, sitting next to him. He looked up in surprise and quickly wiped away his tears.

"_Daddy."_

He swallowed once.

"_I love your mother, Rachel. I really do."_

"_I know."_

"_I did all I could, but I can't stop her from leaving."_

"_I know."_

He sat up straight.

"_I'm sorry, Rachel."_

"_It was no one's fault. And it certainly wasn't yours either."_

She leaned over to hug him tight.

"I love you Daddy." She said, her voice breaking as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

Richard hugged her closer to him.

Even if he couldn't hear the love, he could feel it.

**Thanks! Sorry this chapter is kind of short. Anyway, I'm almost done with finals, which means I'll start writing more frequently (and more consistently :P). Thanks for the reviews guys. They're really what keeps me going and writing more :']**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm sorry this is so late D: btw this is not safe for work or whatever everyone calls it… hope it's not bad…**

**So… I was wondering if I should make the story more dramatic? At the same time I want it to be realistic while trying to stick with the original character storylines and I don't want to add more conflict and make things unrealistic. Any suggestions? Please pm me or review if you would rather keep everything as it is now or if adding something else would be more interesting. Idk maybe I'll just end it and get it over with hahaha. Regardless, I want to write something that you guys enjoy so I will write what you want. :DD Thanks for reading! :]]**

Chapter 11

Quinn was a little worried about prom.

She _really_ wanted to go with Rachel, but she couldn't stop the fear that settled in the back of her mind every time she thought about it.

_Courage, Quinn._

She rolled her eyes at herself. Who was she kidding? No one would care about her and Rachel. They weren't the only ones about to go to the prom. Shaking her head, she walked into the school, scanning the hallways for her girlfriend.

Quinn smiled to herself. She _really_ liked saying the word girlfriend.

She smiled even more when she saw Rachel at her locker. She walked past Puck in the hall, who lightly punched her on the shoulder before continuing his conversation with Finn.

Quinn pecked Rachel once, making her turn around.

Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Hey!"

Quinn slid her arm around her waist, bringing her close as she started getting her books out of her locker. Rachel turned in the embrace and brushed Quinn's bangs behind her ear.

"I love your hair today. Not that I don't love it every day."

Quinn's hand automatically went up to her hair that was tied up messily. She frowned.

"Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow at her.

Rachel giggled, making Quinn's heart flutter.

"It looks sexy like that. Messy, but not in a bad way. It's nice." Rachel smiled and ran her hands up and down Quinn's arms in reassurance.

"Thanks…" Quinn couldn't help the redness forming on her cheeks. She _really_ hated that she blushed so easily. She looked over across the hall, feeling eyes on her. A shy blonde was staring at Rachel before quickly turning away. Quinn narrowed her eyes at the girl.

Rachel was hot. There was no denying that.

But she was also _hers_.

"Quinn?"

"Huh."

She didn't notice that she was still glaring at the blonde across the hall.

"Ready to go?" She nodded slowly before reaching over to take Rachel's books on top of her own.

They started walking when Quinn moved to put her arm around Rachel's shoulders. Rachel's arm immediately went around her waist, hugging her closer.

Quinn smirked.

She didn't care that she was being jealous.

* * *

><p>Quinn and Rachel were laying on Rachel's bed by the time they had stopped making out and started working on their homework. Quinn sat against the headboard, not really paying attention to the words she was writing in her notebook. Rachel was lying down on the bed next to her, reading a book that seemed to bore her to no end.<p>

Millions of thoughts went through Quinn's head. Prom, nationals, senior year, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel…. She absently started running her hand up and down Rachel's leg.

Her head immediately shot up from the other side of the bed, an amused expression on her face.

"Really? It's been half an hour."

"But we've been working ever since we got here." She grinned at Rachel.

"Yes… we have. But more than half of that time was spent—"

She was interrupted by Quinn reaching over to grab her arm, bringing her up to face Quinn. Her breath stopped as she looked into deep hazel green eyes. Quinn's eyes moved from looking at Rachel's, down to her lips. She leaned forward slowly and stopped just short of Rachel's lips, their breaths mingling.

Quinn quickly closed the distance and pecked her once on the lips before leaning back against the headboard once more.

"So I've been thinking…" She said, looking thoughtful while smirking inwardly.

Rachel let out an exasperated sigh and smacked Quinn's thigh. She rolled her eyes and moved over to sit next to Quinn, then proceeded to nuzzle her face into her neck.

"About what."

Quinn chuckled and lightly placed a kiss on the scar on Rachel's temple while stroking the arm that was loosely around her waist.

"You're hot."

Rachel laughed a little.

"Well, I'm flattered Quinn, but are you trying to avoid the question?"

"No, I'm thinking that you're hot."

Rachel lifted her head to look at Quinn.

"And… people look at you all the time."

"Honey, then you must be too preoccupied to see all the boys and girls staring at _you_. All the time." Rachel said, her thumb stroking the skin underneath the hem of Quinn's shirt.

Quinn started biting her lip.

Rachel looked concerned and ran her fingers through Quinn's hair.

"What's bothering you Quinn?"

"I want to be hot enough for you." She blurted out suddenly. Rachel's eyes widened comically for a moment. Her hand stilled in Quinn's hair.

Suddenly, Rachel giggled and put her head on Quinn's chest.

"What's so funny?" Quinn scowled.

Rachel put her hand up, asking for a moment. Quinn sighed, but put her arms around her, slowly running her hands over Rachel's back. She couldn't help the fact that Rachel's laugh was infectious.

"Quinn, I think you're too worried about that. I don't think you notice that people stare at you every day and that I always have to give them nasty looks to let them know that you're mine." Rachel said after calming herself.

"I know that people look at both of us. You're hot, and I'm not ugly… it's just that there are other attractive people in the school…"

"You're more than just 'not ugly' Quinn."

Quinn gave her a half smile.

"I kind of want to change a little. Not that I want to change us. I want to change me."

Rachel's eyebrows went up for a moment.

"I don't care about being hot enough for them, Rachel. I care about being hot enough… for you."

"You already said that…"

Quinn groaned a little, not knowing how to get her words out.

"I want to cut my hair."

Rachel tilted her head a little in understanding.

"Do you seriously have so little faith in me? Yes, there are other attractive people in this school." Quinn's face fell a little.

"But you will always be more than hot enough for me. I'll never leave you Quinn. Besides, I'm lucky that you won't leave _me_." Rachel put her head back on Quinn's chest, giggling a little.

Quinn blushed a little and held Rachel a little tighter.

"The feeling is mutual. I'll never leave you Rach. I think I…" She trailed off, not wanting to start another subject.

They sat in silence for a little while. Rachel listened to the sound of Quinn's heartbeat with her eyes closed.

"Before, you said that you liked my hair…"

"Quinn, you could get a fucking mullet and I would still think you're hot. Although I'm hoping that you won't." Rachel said, eyes still closed.

"So… I can cut my hair?"

Rachel opened her eyes.

"It's _your_ hair. Even if you don't like it, it'll grow back. Besides, your hair isn't the only thing that turns me on." Rachel said while rolling her eyes.

"I kind of want to do it in New York. I don't want to do it before prom just in case my mom freaks out." Looking less insecure than she was before.

"Mmm." Rachel had turned around, her back against Quinn's front, and was back to reading her book.

Quinn bent her neck to kiss the top of Rachel's head and lingered for a while.

"So what else about me turns you on?" She asked suggestively.

Rachel slowly set her book down and turned to face Quinn. There was a blush creeping up her neck.

"Really?"

"Really." Quinn gave her a straight face but her heart skipped a beat. She wasn't really sure how far Rachel was willing to go.

Rachel suddenly didn't seem so nervous and cleared her throat.

"Well…" She moved to straddle Quinn's thighs and lightly traced the tips of her fingers over her jaw and lips. "I think you're beautiful and confident. And I'm not going to lie, you make me feel butterflies in my stomach."

"Hmm… and why is that?" Quinn mentally gave herself a high five for keeping her cool. In reality, her heart was pounding and she was just as nervous as Rachel was.

"Every time you touch me, it feels like the first time." Rachel grinned and leaned in to press her lips against hers lightly. "And I love how even if you're always so confident, deep down you're just as nervous as I am." She kissed her again, and traced her fingers over her collarbone.

Quinn laughed a little as she ran her hands slowly over Rachel's thighs, feeling a wave of arousal pass through her.

"I could go on about how much your body turns me on. But I'm sure that I can say more when we—"

"Yeah, you don't have to." Quinn didn't let her say another word and kissed Rachel, not holding back. She kissed Rachel deeply and felt her moan into her mouth. She closed her eyes and felt Rachel start to slide her fingers through her hair and around to the back of her head. She lightly scratched at Quinn's scalp and ran her tongue over her lips. Quinn moaned and parted her lips, lightly touching Rachel's tongue with her own, massaging it. Quinn gently bit onto Rachel's lower lip, causing her to kiss back with just as much want and need.

Quinn wanted just as much and kissed her harder, moving her hands from Rachel's thighs to her lips and then around to her ass. Rachel returned the kiss, feeling every inch of her start to tingle from the sensation of having Quinn's hands on her. She craved more, needed more. Rachel broke away from the kiss, breathing hard as Quinn moved her lips over to her jaw and her neck. She slowly maneuvered them so that Quinn was hovering slightly over Rachel on the bed.

Rachel pulled Quinn away from her neck, wanting her lips on hers again. She held onto Quinn tightly tangling her fingers into her hair and then moved down to run her hands over her back. Quinn slowed down a little, wanting Rachel to set the pace. Their kiss went from deep and hungry to soft and sweet. She felt as if she was floating.

"Quinn." Rachel whispered once they broke the kiss for a moment. "Touch me."

Quinn smiled against her lips and began to move her hand along Rachel's side. She teased the skin where her shirt had ridden up.

"Are you okay with this?"

"Yes." She felt Rachel's phone vibrate on the bed, but Rachel had thrown it off before she could say anything about it.

"Will you regret this later?" Quinn urged as she ran her fingers and palm over Rachel's stomach. She slowly started to inch her way up her shirt.

"God no. Will you?"

"No." Quinn replied softly, shaking her head.

Rachel nodded. Quinn ran her tongue over her lips slowly before leaning in to connect her lips with Rachel's again.

Their clothes slowly came off. Quinn broke the kiss as the last of their clothes came off and she smiled down at Rachel and lowered herself on top of her. She felt nervous, almost shy when their eyes locked into an intense gaze.

Rachel ran her hands down Quinn's back, enjoying the shiver under her touch. Quinn sat there unmoving.

"You doing okay?" Rachel whispered softly.

Quinn nodded.

"Just feels like I'm dreaming."

Rachel laughed softly and raised her hips slightly into Quinn's. "Definitely not a dream." She said reassuringly.

Quinn ran her hand down the length of Rachel's body and slowly trailed it back up to caress the side of her face. She leaned down to gently kiss the scars on Rachel's face. Rachel's eyes fluttered shut as Quinn began trailing light, wet kisses over her jaw and down her neck. Her hands ran over a circular scar on Rachel's shoulder. She hesitated a bit but continued, not wanting to ruin the moment with questions.

Quinn groaned as Rachel's hands moved down her sides, over her front and breasts. She sat up to place her hands on Rachel's legs and leaned down to place soft, gentle kisses along her inner thighs. Rachel's lips parted slightly.

She ever so slightly caressed her inner thighs as Rachel slowly spread her legs for her. Quinn nervously ran the tips of her fingers over her clit and lightly caressed her hole. She almost moaned at how wet she was.

She moved in closer, kissing over the soft skin of her thigh. She trailed her tongue up back between her legs. Rachel let out a low moan as Quinn's tongue teased her clit. Quinn moaned with her as she felt how close Rachel was despite having just started.

It brought a rush of heat between her legs knowing how quickly she could make Rachel feel like this. Her tongue buried into her and Rachel moaned again.

"Jesus." She panted as she gripped Quinn's hair and pushed her harder into her. "I—"

"I know." Quinn said softly. She pulled away and slid two fingers into her while she kissed up her stomach, to her neck. She slid her lips over Rachel's. She wanted to kiss her, wanted to feel her moan as she came.

Her fingers steadily drove in and out of her, her palm staying in contact with Rachel's clit as their tongues slid over each other. Rachel kissed Quinn hard as her body began to shudder beneath Quinn's, her orgasm washing over her slowly. Rachel gripped at Quinn's back as her body tensed. Quinn's fingers slowed and pulled out, lightly caressing Rachel's clit as she started to relax.

She heard Rachel's phone ring again in the back of her head and looked over at it.

"Ignore it."

Rachel flipped the both of them over and gently put her lips against Quinn's while running her hands down Quinn's sides.

Their tender touches and kisses soon turned passionate. Their gasps and moans filled the room as they brought each other over the edge over and over again.

* * *

><p>Rachel lay on top of Quinn under the covers, their bodies slick with sweat. Rachel grinned and kissed Quinn's forehead.<p>

"I am so not regretting that."

Quinn hugged Rachel, her arms circling around Rachel's neck.

"Me neither." She said softly as Rachel began trailing soft kisses along her jaw.

Their perfect moment was interrupted with a knock on Rachel's door.

Rachel shot up, looking alarmed and Quinn groaned. She checked the time and gasped.

"Fuck!" She had completely lost track of time. She dragged Quinn out of bed and started throwing Quinn's clothes at her as she struggled to put her own clothes on.

Quinn smiled lethargically at Rachel as she watched her scramble to organize the bed and make it look as if they were doing homework.

Rachel collected herself and moved to open the door and saw Richard tapping his foot impatiently on the other side, his phone in his hand.

"_Hey! Quinn and I didn't hear you. We were finishing some work."_

He made a sound of annoyance.

"_Your mother said she tried to get a hold of you but you didn't answer so she texted me. She wants to say goodbye."_

Rachel looked down at her phone and realized that all the missed calls during her "study" time with Quinn had been from her.

She nodded and he waited at the door as she walked back and sat on the bed next to Quinn, who was innocently doing work.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi mom."

"_Listen, I'm about to get on the plane and I just wanted to say goodbye. I tried to call but you didn't answer."_

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Alright."

"_I love you Rachel. You know that right?"_

"Yes."

"_I'm staying in California so if you want to visit this summer…"_

"Cool. I can stay with Sammy and Nathan." Rachel cringed at the lie. They didn't actually live in California. But she wanted her mom to know that she could live without her.

"_Oh. That's nice. I didn't know that you were still talking to them."_

"Yeah, we've been catching up lately."

"_Alright. Well… I have to go now."_

"Bye."

Rachel hung up, knowing that she wasn't going to her mother's house over the summer. She doubted if she was ever going to speak with her mother again.

Richard was still standing at the door.

"_Okay?"_

Rachel nodded.

Richard looked around the room and noticed a pair of pants on the ground and looked over at Quinn, who was currently sitting with the blanket draped over her legs, avoiding all eye contact with him.

He quirked an eyebrow at Rachel.

Rachel froze and mentally slapped herself. She hadn't given Quinn enough time to put her clothes on.

"Um…" She said.

Richard shook her head and let out a laugh as he slowly closed the door, not wanting to really think about what exactly was going on in his daughter's room before he came in.

"Didn't even have the nerve to come say goodbye." Rachel muttered to herself as she dialed another number. Quinn looked a little worried, but chose to stay silent.

"Hey Sammy."

"_Rachel! How's everything?"_

"Good. I'm dating Quinn."

"_Who's Quinn?"_

"The blonde girl you saw at the restaurant."

"_That's great!"_

"Yeah. Look, I know this is sudden, but… Mom just left. She's divorcing dad."

Silence.

"_Rachel, I'm sorry."_

"Don't be. Just wanted to say that I'm free now… and I was wondering if it would be okay if Quinn and I came and visited you over the summer." Rachel looked at Quinn and gave her a questioning look.

Quinn smiled a little and nodded.

"_That would be great. And it would be a good opportunity to properly catch up with you. And with your new girl."_

"Thanks Sam. And tell Nathan too."

"_I will."_

She hung up and sighed.

Quinn gave her a look and Rachel knew that she would have to explain.

"It's just… mom never liked Sammy so I guess this is my way of finally being free of her."

"Oh." Quinn stayed silent.

"I used to have a sister. Charlie… She was mom and dad's biological daughter. She wanted a sister so badly, but mom had already miscarried so many times after her, so they adopted me."

Quinn shifted closer to Rachel and took her hand.

"Our lives were perfect. Mom never liked Sammy because she was Charlie's girlfriend and she used to have a nose piercing." Rachel laughed a little.

"Then something happened and Charlie died. Sammy went to college and we lost contact for a while... until we met at the restaurant. I'm sure that mom was happy about that though."

Rachel sniffed and crossed her legs on the bed.

"She was never like this. Even if she didn't really like Sammy, she was still supportive of us all and loved us. Until Charlie died."

Quinn moved and wrapped her arms around Rachel.

"It's okay to cry, Rach."

Rachel hugged her back and laughed.

"You're not just my girlfriend Quinn."

She buried her face into Quinn's chest.

"You're my best friend too."

Quinn felt her eyes water, but refused to let the tears fall. She squeezed her girlfriend and best friend tighter as she felt Rachel's silent tears start to soak through her shirt.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Well judging from some of the opinions that I got, I'm going to add some drama to story will start moving a lot faster after this chapter :]] I feel like it's moving too slow now that the relationship has been established. Don't worry I'll still address everything from before even the Puck/Shelby thing. It's all going to tie in. Hope you stick around~**

Chapter 12

They were in heaven.

Quinn couldn't think of anything that made her happier than sitting in the back of an overcrowded school bus heading to New York with her girlfriend.

So what if they skipped out early on prom? They had danced for a while before they went back to Rachel's house and had spent the entire night in her room with the door locked.

"You know…"

Quinn looked down at her girlfriend's hand that was slowly rubbing her jean clad thigh. She swallowed hard and shifted in her seat.

"What?"

Rachel tangled her fingers through Quinn's blonde locks.

"I might miss this, but I'm sure a change in hairstyle will make you look as hot as you are now." She smiled dreamily at her girlfriend as her hand crept up her leg and under her shirt. Quinn's breath hitched as she felt Rachel's hand play with the waistband of her jeans. She wasn't going to…

"Really?" She breathed out.

"Mmhmm." Rachel giggled a little, feeling immature for not being able to keep it in her pants, but also extremely turned on and excited with the thought.

Quinn moaned quietly, ignoring everyone around them and ran her hands up the brunette's sides.

"It's going to be _really_ hard not touching you at night." Quinn whispered as she closed her eyes. The glee club didn't really have enough money to provide rooms for every two people. And Quinn and Rachel hadn't been able to keep their hands off of each other ever since their first night together.

"So Rachel, you're really going to let Q cut _all_ her—"

Rachel's hand shot out from Quinn's jeans and she sat back, her face cherry red. Quinn stretched nonchalantly and sat back as well.

Santana looked between the two with an unreadable expression on her face.

"I'm just going to turn around and pretend that I did _not_ see where the midget's hand was just now." She said slowly and turned back around.

"What happened?" Brittany asked innocently, her attention momentarily diverted from the movie on Mike's laptop.

"Nothing. Just give me that." She rummaged through Brittany's backpack.

Quinn ignored her and turned to Rachel again with a grin.

"But I'm sure I can handle it for a couple of days…" she said, going back to their conversation before Santana's untimely interruption. Rachel, still red in the face smiled reassuringly at her.

"I know. And by the way, I _am_ going with you to cut your hair. I refuse to let anyone screw up—" She was interrupted by Santana, who threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Rachel over the seat.

Quinn quickly leaned forward to smack her over the head.

"Nothing happened!" She whispered harshly as Santana and Brittany snickered.

She looked over and glared daggers at Puck and Finn, who were not so subtly glancing over the seats, eavesdropping on their conversation.

Rachel laughed nervously next to her.

"I guess we're not as subtle as we thought…" She said. Quinn leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Don't worry, I have dirt on all of them. And they've done _a lot_ worse." She made sure to say it loud enough for Santana to hear. The snickering stopped immediately.

Quinn smirked. "And of course you're coming with me. I'm going to need your approval."

* * *

><p>When they had finished, Rachel ran out of the hair cuttery with Quinn's hand tightly clasped in hers. Her grin matched Quinn's.<p>

As they waited to cross the street, Rachel wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck, twirling a piece of blonde hair around her finger.

"I love it. It looks more you." She said as she gently ran her hands through her short, choppy hair.

Quinn smiled even more.

"You think so?" she asked as she slid her arms around Rachel's waist.

She nodded.

"It shows your personality more. And you look so cute." She said.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her.

"Cute?"

"Cute _and_ sexy." Rachel corrected.

She leaned to kiss her when the crowd of people around them started walking across the street. A man hurried past the two of them, bumping hard against Rachel.

"Oh, God. Sorry." He muttered out, not even turning around, and disappeared in the crowd. Quinn put her arm around Rachel's shoulders, bringing her closer. When they had reached the hotel, Rachel looked through her bag, making sure everything was still there.

"What?"

"Nothing, just making sure."

Quinn shrugged as they kept walking.

Rachel shivered, remembering how the man had run his hand down her back before disappearing. She felt Quinn entwine their fingers and smiled before leading them to the elevator.

"Rachel."

They both froze, recognizing that voice. Slowly, Rachel turned around.

"Shelby." Quinn said neutrally with Rachel's hand still in hers.

Shelby, still gorgeous as ever stood in front of the two with her own choir standing behind her. They were chatting animatedly amongst themselves while a couple not so subtly eavesdropped. She turned around and shooed them away.

"Quinn. I didn't recognize you." She said once they had their privacy.

"Got my hair done today." She murmured before looking over at her girlfriend.

"Looks nice." Shelby replied with a forced smile. Her eyes flickered to her daughter and then to her hand, which was still clasped in Quinn's.

"Rachel…"

"You don't have to say anything. I already know."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want you to feel like I was trying to replace you."

Rachel's eyes shot up.

"We were friends, which mean we tell each other stuff. You wouldn't be 'replacing' me by only adopting a daughter. You're not my mom."

Shelby winced inwardly, but kept her expression neutral. Quinn bit her lip, suddenly feeling out of place.

"I know. I'm just sorry I didn't realize that before."

There was an awkward silence. Rachel's hand had gone limp in hers.

"Rachel, I'm not asking you to forgive me or to see me as your mom. I'm just asking for you to give me another chance to be your friend."

She looked down. _This is one screwed up friendship._ She nodded once.

"Okay."

Shelby's face looked conflicted for a while before she slowly started to walk away, sensing that she wanted space.

"You know, you really hurt me. It would have been better for you to never come back than to get me thinking that we were friends before tossing me aside."

Shelby stopped and looked at the ground, automatically playing with the ring on her finger before turning around again. She stepped forward and took the ring off her finger and handed it to her daughter._ Er… friend._

"This was your father's. Your real father's. Your hands are so small, it'll probably only fit on your thumb."

Rachel wordlessly took the ring.

"I can tell you more about him. When we were still dating… and how he was before he died."

She nodded once. Shelby had never talked much about her father and had only told her that he had died in a bar fight. But she had never told him if he was a good or bad person. There was another awkward silence.

"Hey, Shelby." A voice cut in.

This time, the three of them turned around, confused.

Noah stood nervously in front of the three of them.

"Puck." Shelby said once. She looked apologetically at Quinn and Rachel. She put her hand on his shoulder as she walked away.

"You should…" She trailed off and then changed her mind before leaving.

Quinn raised her eyebrow at him once Shelby was out of sight.

"You have something to tell us?" She asked, not trying to sound accusing.

He nodded.

"One of the rooms is empty if you want to…"

They walked towards the elevator. Rachel still held onto Quinn's hand as she slowly slipped her hand into Noah's.

He looked surprised and pained as he looked into Rachel's gentle gaze. Rachel had a soft spot for him, and vice versa. She could never hate him.

She felt eyes on her and glanced quickly towards the lobby, where a man was walking towards the door. She shrugged it off, paying attention to more important matters.

"So I'm assuming you know Shelby a little more than you let on." Rachel said once they all settled to sit on the carpet.

"Yes."

Quinn looked as if she wanted to say something, but stayed silent in order to let him finish his side of the story.

"I see Beth every other week. I begged Shelby to let me see them if…"

Quinn's eyes narrowed.

"If what?"

"If I could keep it in my pants."

Her eyes widened comically.

"Nothing happened between us. I just told her that I loved her and then she told me that I had to leave. Because a relationship between us would be inappropriate." He said quickly.

"You love my… mom?" Rachel said.

He nodded. Rachel sighed.

"I'm not going to judge you for that. You can't control who you love…" She smiled at Quinn who almost blushed in return. They hadn't said those words to each other yet.

"There's something else."

They froze, expecting the worst.

"I…"

Rachel looked concerned as he looked as if he was going to cry.

"What is it Noah?"

"Your mom. The reason why she didn't tell you is because I told her not to. I didn't know who you were but she was so stressed about everything and I didn't want her to be. I didn't even think about who you were and I just told her it would be easier to tell whoever you were after she settled in."

Quinn stood up fast, letting out a groan of frustration.

Rachel put a hand on her leg, trying to calm her down.

"Rachel I'm so sorry, if I had known…"

"It doesn't matter. Even if it wasn't me, you still would have hurt someone."

He looked crushed. Rachel's expression was unreadable.

"But you have to know… Shelby is a strong willed person. Even if you said that to her, it was ultimately her decision to keep me out of her life. You didn't do anything wrong, Noah. You were just trying to stay with someone you love… and your daughter."

Noah leaned back, feeling relieved to get that off his chest.

"But…"

He looked cautiously over at Rachel.

"I think you have some more explaining to do for Quinn." Fear flashed across Puck's face.

Quinn shook her head. "No."

"If I wanted to see Beth, I should have gathered the courage to go find her. And I don't think I can. Not now at least."

There was an awkward silence.

"But you're going to have to make it up to me for lying."

Puck nodded again, feeling the tightness in his chest start to disappear.

"And you can start by leaving the room and making sure no one comes in." Quinn smirked as he obediently ran out the door.

Rachel smirked at Quinn.

"What? It gives us the room to ourselves." Rachel laughed.

They sat up against the headboard of the bed once they had absorbed everything that had just happened.

"So does it bother you?" Quinn asked her.

"Not really. Like I said, it was ultimately Shelby's decision. Besides, she's the adult. At least they didn't do anything…" She turned on her side to face Quinn. "Does it bother you?"

Quinn shrugged. "No. But it bothers me that he lied every time."

Rachel slid her arm around her waist.

"How eventful is this? I spent years living a quiet life and then I come to McKinley. My parents divorce, I see my friends after years of not seeing them, I finally see my biological mom, one of my best friends is in love with my mom…" She trailed off, teasing the skin under Quinn's shirt. "And…"

Quinn leaned forward, their foreheads touched.

"I fell in love." She finished, running her hands over the blonde's short hair.

She leaned back to gaze into Quinn's hazel eyes. She didn't say anything at first and leaned forward to press their lips together.

"I love you too." She said as her hand moved to the waistband of Rachel's jeans.

Rachel grabbed Quinn's hand and turned to straddle her.

"Now that we've established that, I think we should finish what we started on the bus."

* * *

><p>"Well… that's that." Mercedes said with a sigh as the New Directions changed out of their dresses. They had come in dead last. They could hear the joyful cheering of the other choir groups in the changing rooms next to them.<p>

"Yup. There's still next year though." Rachel said optimistically. She grinned as she looked at all her friends. Sure, they were depressed but they were still having the time of their lives. Except maybe Santana.

"San, you don't have to be upset. We'll win next year." Brittany tried to reassure her.

"I'm not upset okay!" Santana crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, trying to hide the fact that she had been _extremely_ upset that they hadn't won. She had changed into her sweatpants and was now munching on the cookies left out in the dressing room.

"Will you tie my hair up in a ponytail then?" Brittany asked her with a knowing smile. Santana sighed and grabbed a hairbrush.

Rachel smirked and sat in front of the mirror, already changed into jeans and a t shirt and was waited for Quinn to come back from the bathroom.

She looked down on the counter. A white slip of paper sitting next to her things caught her eye. Curious, she picked it up.

_Beautiful_. It was all that was written on there. The handwriting was neat, but not the best. She didn't recognize it.

She felt a kiss to her temple and smiled.

"Congratulations Rachel Berry." Quinn whispered into her ear as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

"You do realize that we lost?" She said with a half smile.

"I know. But it doesn't change that we had an awesome performance. Even after you wrote those songs the day before."

Rachel smiled. Quinn looked down and noticed the note in her hand.

"Looks like you have a fan." She said, feeling a little jealous.

Rachel frowned.

"I thought that maybe you had…"

Quinn shook her head "No. My handwriting doesn't even look like that." She looked at it suspiciously, feeling ridiculous for being so possessive over one note.

Rachel set the note down. She couldn't stop feeling nervous the longer she stared at the note.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, worried. "Of course. It's just a note." She replied.

"I bet it was one of those Vocal Adrenaline kids. They couldn't stop staring at you." Quinn kissed the back of her neck. Rachel smiled, forgetting about her irrational thoughts.

"I love you Quinn. This year has really been the best year of my life."

Her arms tightened around Rachel's waist and she rested her chin on her shoulder.

"I love you too."

She completely ignored Santana, who threw cookies in their direction, and Puck's catcalling and kissed Rachel.

**I promise to try and update soon :]] and sorry for the boring chapter. I needed to get this out of the way so I can move on :]**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** **You'll probably find out what happened to Rachel in the next two chapters. I'll have them both written up (or just one really long one) so you won't have to wait any longer to know. :]]] thanks so much for being so patient with me.**

Chapter 13

_Rachel looked over at her sister. Charlie was in the driver's seat, humming to a song that Rachel didn't recognize. They had gone out to get something and were driving back home. Rachel couldn't remember what it was they were getting._

_Was she dreaming?_

"_Sammy and Nathan are going to pick us up for the zoo tomorrow." _

_Charlie smiled at Rachel. She loved that smile. _

_She was definitely dreaming. _

_Tears pooled in her eyes as she realized that this dream would soon disappear. Charlie frowned. _

"_What's wrong?"_

"_I'm tired. Will you carry me inside?" She didn't realize that she had said those words. The blonde smiled gently._

_Rachel buried her head into Charlie's neck as she carried her up the porch steps. The door was open. She felt Charlie falter for a second before cautiously making her way inside._

_Kate was sitting on the ground, crying. She looked up and saw her two daughters standing in the doorway and her eyes widened._

"_No. No no no no…" It was all she said before Rachel was ripped from her sister's arms. _

Rachel jerked awake.

She was breathing hard and her forehead was damp with sweat. Quinn was holding her tightly from behind to keep her from hurting herself.

"Are you okay?" She asked her.

Rachel closed her eyes again and turned to face Quinn. She buried her face into her chest and wrapped her arms around Quinn's back, trying to erase the images that haunted her even outside her dreams. Quinn held her girlfriend while feeling completely helpless.

She looked up in worry and noticed Sammy standing in the doorway, looking concerned. Quinn kissed the top of Rachel's head. She was hoping that Rachel's nightmares would get better if they visited her friends and got her to relax a little.

Sammy left quietly, giving them some time alone.

"Yes." Rachel finally said as her breathing slowed.

"Rach, I know that I told you that you can tell me whenever you're ready…" Quinn trailed off.

"I will. Just… not now."

Quinn looked down at her and brushed her stray locks behind her ear.

"I promise." Rachel said sincerely. Quinn nodded and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"I love you Rachel. I'm never going to judge you."

Rachel didn't have to say anything and moved forward to press her lips to Quinn's. She looked over at the clock and decided to get up.

"I'll see you downstairs." She said as she started putting on a pair of sweatpants.

Quinn made her way downstairs and decided to wait in the kitchen for Rachel to finish her shower. She considered joining her, but decided she needed to grab the opportunity to speak with Sam alone.

"Hey guys." She greeted. Nathan had already arrived for breakfast so he could drive the girls to the amusement park.

Nathan gave a nod.

Quinn sat down at the table, feeling guilty. _You can do this._

"I know that I told Rachel that she could tell me whenever she was ready but… "

Sam turned around and slowly moved to sit at the table.

"It's been a long time since we started dating and she cries and screams in her sleep and I have no idea how to help her because I don't know anything about her past. I hate to pry but I have to know something."

There was silence as Sam and Nathan shared a look.

After what seemed like forever, Sam sighed.

"We can tell you what basically happened. But not the details. Rachel doesn't tell anyone anything."

Quinn nodded.

"But the reason why we can't tell you details is because we don't know what happened exactly. Only what was on the news. Rachel never told us what happened and we never asked. She was so young when it happened, we didn't want to make her tell us."

"She shouldn't have to remember if she doesn't want to." Nathan added.

Sammy sighed. "But you're an important part of Rachel's life. And you're the one who's there when she has nightmares and makes her feel better."

Quinn licked her lips and swallowed hard. Did she want to know?

"Rachel and Charlie's house was broken into by a man and his brother. The police caught him but his brother got away because they didn't know he was there until Kate asked if both of them were caught. I forgot their names. They weren't mentioned in the news and I had left for college soon after…"

"Jason and Dallen." Nathan cut in. Quinn and Sammy looked at him in surprise.

"I was already graduated… so I helped Kate and Richard get settled in again." He said.

Sammy smiled and continued.

"According to the other brother, they broke in because they didn't have money. They were traveling, running away from their father who according to them, were trying to kill them. They knocked out Kate and Richard and then…" Sammy trailed off and shook her head.

She wasn't there, but she loved Charlie. It was hard to talk about her dead girlfriend even after all these years.

"They raped and killed Charlie and somehow Rachel got shot too. She broke her leg and a couple ribs… it was bad. Someone called the cops and when they got there, one of them made a run for it and got caught. He was killed in jail by an inmate that found out he was in for rape. When they investigated the house to try and find the other one, there was some blood leading out the window upstairs. And they never found him... Just a trail of blood that stopped at the beach. They think he died and got swept into the ocean."

By the time she finished, Sammy was crying. She tried not to think too much about Rachel and Charlie. Her chest hurt.

Quinn was in shock.

It explained all the scars, the nightmares…

"Hey Nathan." Rachel interrupted everyone's thoughts as she walked into the kitchen. She froze when she realized that Sam and Quinn were crying, while Nathan looked extremely upset.

"What's wrong?" She frowned.

"I'm sorry Rachel. I didn't want to pry but…"

"You told her?" Rachel asked Sammy, her eyebrows furrowed.

"She had to know." Nathan said gently. "She's your girlfriend."

Rachel shook her head.

"No. I'm not mad."

She quickly moved to Quinn who looked guilty and hugged her tight.

"I'm just sorry you had to hear that." She whispered tearfully.

They separated when Rachel's phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and looked down before she paled and looked up again.

Quinn instantly became concerned. "What's wrong?"

"It's my dad. Shelby was in a car accident."

Sam and Nathan immediately stood up, Nathan grabbing his car keys.

"Beth's okay. She wasn't in the car with her. They said Shelby should be fine too, but she's pretty banged up." Rachel said as they were running out the door.

Quinn followed wordlessly, worried that Rachel would have a mental breakdown after everything that was going on with her life.

When they got into the car, she put her hand on Rachel's thigh.

"Are you okay?"

Rachel looked at her and put her hand on top of Quinn's.

"No one's dead, so I guess so. But I have you so everything will be fine." She beamed.

* * *

><p>Rachel sat next to her mom, who was sitting up in a daze.<p>

"Shelby?" Rachel said hesitantly.

"I almost died…"

Rachel took Shelby's hand awkwardly.

"I almost left my daughter who is almost two. And I almost died without getting my real daughter's forgiveness." Shelby looked at Rachel sadly. "I don't deserve to have you leave the last days of your summer vacation to come see me."

"Don't be so selfish Shelby." Rachel said gently. "How do you think I would have felt if my mom had died without me getting to know her?"

Shelby smiled and looked at their hands. She noticed Rachel wearing the ring she gave her.

"Tell me about my dad." Rachel said suddenly. Shelby looked at her in confusion.

"I don't know… I just want to know."

Shelby looked down for a moment.

"Your dad was like Puck. He was the school's badass and he slept around."

Rachel laughed awkwardly, imagining her dad looking like Noah.

"But he always protected what was his. We started dating when I was fifteen and he was eighteen. I got pregnant with you that year. It was an accident. Who would have thought that would happen after the first time?" Shelby said with a laugh.

Rachel smiled a little.

"He really wanted to keep you. And I did too but we wouldn't have been able to support you. So we gave you up for adoption."

Rachel stopped smiling and looked down at the ring on her thumb. She started playing with it as Shelby went on.

"But he was with me every step of the way. After you were born we realized that we couldn't stay together without causing each other pain. We were always arguing. Everything would always remind us of what we lost."

Shelby stopped for a while, waiting to see how Rachel would take this.

"Did you stop talking?"

"No. We stayed friends. He ended up working with his dad at his car shop. He always fixed my car for free. And he even demanded to see my new boyfriend during my senior year to make sure he would treat me right." The both of them laughed at that.

"And as you know, one day he was at a bar and there was a fight. According to the bartender he tried to break it up and he got stabbed. Died on the way to the hospital."

Shelby sighed.

"When?"

"You would have been four… so fourteen years ago."

Rachel nodded and sat back in her seat, still playing with the ring.

"I wish I had known him." She said.

"I wish you had known him too. He deserved to see how great his daughter grew up. And you deserve to see the kind of person your father really was."

Rachel smiled at that.

"Even if it hurt before, I'm glad that we're talking again Shelby."

"Rachel. Can you come here for a little?" She looked up.

Nathan was standing at the door, his face neutral like always.

"Sure." Rachel gave Shelby an apologetic look. "I'll come visit again." She said before she walked out the door.

"What's this about?" She asked him as she quietly closed the door. A cop was waiting for her with Sammy, who was looking worried. Noah was there as well, looking frustrated.

"I don't know. He said he can't tell anyone anything without telling you first, since you're immediate family." Nathan replied.

She nodded as the three of them left her alone with the police officer. She had a bad feeling about this. She faced him with her arms crossed against her chest. He looked young, but not inexperienced. His brown eyes were soft and youthful. She spotted a couple gray hairs in his sandy blonde hair which she assumed were from stress.

"Ms. Berry. My name is Officer Jensen. I wanted to ask you a few questions about your mom."

"Okay…" Rachel replied hesitantly.

"How often did you contact her?"

"Not often in the past year."

"Do you know if there is anyone who would have a reason to hurt her?"

Rachel frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Considering the circumstances, Ms. Corcoran was lucky to have a couple witnesses. There were some kids playing in the woods who saw the accident."

"Get on with it." Rachel said impatiently.

The officer swallowed once.

"It wasn't just a simple hit and run. Someone came and ran her off the road with the intent of hurting her."

Rachel shook her head. "This is crazy. Are you saying that someone was trying to kill her?"

The officer nodded. "If not, then at least seriously injure her."

She looked at the ground in shock.

"I have to talk with the nurse for a little, but we'll keep you posted."

"Thanks."

Rachel slowly to where Richard and her friends were all waiting. Noah stood up first.

"What did he say?"

"Someone tried to kill her. A car ran her off the road."

Puck's mouth was open. "But…"

"Why? I don't know."

Richard looked at Rachel in shock.

"_Does Shelby have at least an idea of who did it?"_

She shook her head. _"I came here after I spoke with the cop."_ She looked around.

"Where's Quinn?"

"She went to get some coffee for you at the kiosk across the street. The one here is broken."

Rachel nodded and made her way downstairs. What was going on with her life? She shook her head and scanned the cafeteria for her girlfriend.

She instantly smiled when she saw Quinn with her messy but oh so sexy hair. She could make jeans and a t shirt look just as hot as a dress. Rachel frowned when she saw him talking with a man she had never seen before. He was holding her arm.

Her heart stopped when she saw him lean forward and kiss her. Quinn's hand rested on his chest.

Rachel quickly turned and made her way back inside and quickly walked to Noah.

"Hey, want to hang out today?"

He smirked a little.

"Why, your girl not putting out?" His smile faltered when he saw that she looked upset.

"Just want to talk. For real." She said seriously. She took his hand and led him out.

* * *

><p>Quinn groaned when she got into the extremely long line outside. At least it wasn't cold. She was hoping to get back before Rachel finished talking with Shelby, but that seemed out of the question. Quinn felt torn inside. She wanted to give Rachel her space, but at the same time, Rachel wasn't getting any better. She felt a little hurt that Rachel didn't trust her enough to tell her anything even after they had been dating for more than half a year.<p>

"Excuse me. Are you Quinn?"

Quinn spun around, almost knocking into the person behind her.

"I'm sorry." She said quickly.

"It's alright."

Quinn looked at the man she was talking to and couldn't help but stare. He looked strange, wearing a nice but not expensive looking suit, the collar of his dress shirt up to cover his neck. He was also wearing a baseball cap that covered his eyes. Quinn could barely see them. His brown eyes were soft, almost kind. She noticed that there was dust in the brown hair that poked out of his hat.

"Um. Yes." Quinn said lamely. She wouldn't judge this man just because of a little dust and a strange fashion sense.

"Yeah. I just heard that Shelby was in an accident."

"She was, but fortunately she's fine."

The man's features hardened a bit. "Oh, really?"

Quinn looked at him suspiciously. "Yes… fortunately."

The man gave her a light smile. "Of course."

She considered turning around, but refrained from doing so. "I'm sorry, but how do you know me?"

"My name is Daniel. I'm a friend of the Berry family. And you look like Rachel's girlfriend…"

"I am." She said quickly. Something about this guy gave her a bad feeling. She looked at the line, silently begging for it to go faster.

"You're a very pretty girl. I understand why Rachel would stay with someone like you for so long."

Warning signals started going off in Quinn's head. _Get away. This guy is not safe._

"Thanks." She deadpanned.

"If you don't mind me asking… how is she?" Quinn's eyes immediately narrowed a little. "Fine…"

"That's good. Is she happy with you? Do you make her happy?" He kept going. Quinn decided that she would have to leave the line without coffee after all.

"Look, that's_ our_ business, not yours. I've got to get going now."

"Wait." He lightly grabbed her arm. Quinn scowled at him and put her hand to his chest to keep him out of her personal space. "Is… Can I…?"

"What the hell are you—"

Before she could even ask, he leaned forward abruptly and kissed her. He didn't move, only pressed his lips to hers and stayed like that. It was as if he was frozen in the moment, contemplating the kiss. _First he acts all worried about Rachel, and then he kisses me?_ She had to get away from this psycho.

Quinn regained her thoughts and shoved him away. "Touch me again and the cops will be escorting you out. I suggest you don't see the Berry's." She spat out before hurrying back to the elevators. The doors opened and she spotted Rachel's dad along with Sam and Nathan.

"Hey, where's Rachel? And Puck…"

Sam frowned. "Did something happen? Rachel went to see you and came back pretty fast. She looked upset and went off somewhere with him."

Quinn's insides went cold. She hoped to God that Rachel didn't see Daniel kiss her. She shook her head.

"Um. How's Shelby?"

Nathan sighed. "Someone ran her off the road. Cops are investigating."

She nodded and looked at Richard. She was worried about Shelby, but she was safe now. She had other things to worry about.

"Um. Does your family happen to know anyone named Daniel?" He looked thoughtful for a moment.

Richard looked at the ground first in thought, and then at Sammy who translated. _"Yes. But he's probably ten years old right now. Why?"_

Quinn swallowed audibly.

"It's just that someone named Daniel said that he knew you guys and started asking questions about Rachel and Shelby… and me."

"You have to tell the officer. Maybe he has something to do with who hurt Shelby."

"Tell me what?" The officer stood behind them having finished talking with the nurse and was now making his way out.

"About someone suspicious."

"Shoot."

Quinn hurriedly told him the details. She had to talk with Rachel now.

* * *

><p>"You should talk with Shelby. Try to see if there's anyone who might have…"<p>

"I was going to. But first, why'd you run off like that?" Noah asked, sitting down on his bed next to Rachel, who was lying down. He felt slightly embarrassed that his room was so messy. His bed wasn't even made, the blanket just thrown over the sheets. Clothes, including his boxers, video games, school books and his guitar were all on the carpet.

"I saw something that I wish I hadn't seen."

He shifted on the bed a little and faced her.

"This sounds weird but… will you um… hold me?" She asked, a little red.

"Will Quinn get mad at me for doing that?" Noah asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. He immediately regretted it when he saw tears pool in Rachel's eyes.

"Hey, I didn't mean that I think… um. Yeah, sure." He laid down next to her and gently pulled her into his arms, her face buried into his chest.

"I saw Quinn kissing someone. A guy in the line when I went to find her."

"Are—are you sure?" He asked cautiously. _Quinn wouldn't do that. But if she did he's going to have a serious talk with her. And whoever that guy was… he would kill him._

"Well… he kissed her first. And she didn't push him away. Actually I don't know if she did or didn't, I right after… I don't know I just…. I don't know."

Noah frowned and tilted her head up.

"There could be a chance that she pushed him away. You of all people should know that a lot of guys and girls would want to kiss her." He said with a charming smile.

"I know. It's just that… it took me a long time to get her. It's unbelievable that someone like me would get someone as beautiful as her."

Noah held her tighter. "Rachel, you're beautiful, confident… you're not like a lot of the other girls. Quinn's lucky to have you too."

Rachel turned around, her back pressed against his chest and pulled his arm around herself. She didn't want him to see her cry.

"You're going to have to ask her Rachel. Whatever the answer is, I'll be here for you." Noah said sincerely when he noticed Rachel ignore a call from Quinn.

"Yeah I know." She said again.

"I'm being a coward by hiding out here with you. But I'm terrified of the answer."

Noah sat up a little.

"Don't be. If Quinn is the girl that I've known her to be, then it was a mistake and she still loves you."

Rachel put her hand on his. "You're right."

They sat in silence for a little.

"Hey…"

"What?"

"I love you Noah."

He froze. He couldn't remember the last time someone had said that to him. His friends had never said that to him before. Quinn was one of his best friends, but she _loved_ Santana and Brittany. She had closer friends. Rachel's confession pulled at his chest. He just lay behind her with his arms wrapped around her.

"I love you too Rachel."

Rachel smiled and continued to hold his hand.

"Uh… Rachel?"

"Mmm."

"In case Quinn didn't kiss that guy… can you make sure that she doesn't know about… this?" Noah asked, gesturing to their intimate embrace. He laughed nervously.

Rachel giggled. "Sure, Noah."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Now that I'm adding a little drama to the story, I changed the description a bit to fit it better :]**

**Hope you like, and as always, thanks for reading.**

Chapter 14

Rachel wasn't answering her phone anymore.

_Did she see?_ Quinn didn't know.

"Quinnie! Rachel's here to see you…" Her mom called her from downstairs.

Quinn shot up from her bed and sprinted to the stairs. She caught her breath before slowly walking to the door where Rachel was, still wearing what she had on at Sam's house. She was still wearing Quinn's plain black t shirt.

"I'm sorry I missed your calls. I was talking with Noah…"

Quinn nodded. "It's okay…"

"Um. Can we talk upstairs?"

"Yeah. Of course." Quinn replied quickly.

She led Rachel to her room after ignoring the suspicious gaze her mother was shooting at her.

Rachel sat on the carpet, her back leaning against Quinn's bed. Usually, Rachel would lay on the bed. Quinn felt as nervous as the first time they slept together.

"Rachel… I have to tell—"

"I know already. I um…. I saw at the hospital."

_Oh._

"I came to let you explain yourself."

"Rachel I didn't kiss that guy. I'd never seen him before until I stood in that line. He kissed_ me._"

Rachel looked confused. "Why did he kiss you then?"

Quinn shook her head. "I have no idea, I swear."

"What did you talk about?"

Quinn swallowed.

"He… He asked me about Shelby. And then he kept asking me about you."

Rachel's eyebrows shot up. "Me?" Quinn nodded.

"He knew us. Or he knew you… he knew I was your girlfriend. And he kept asking if you were happy."

When Rachel didn't answer, she went on.

"He was dressed weird and he had dust in his hair. Brown hair and brown eyes… this tall…" Quinn gestured.

"And he gave me a fake name. Said he knew the Berry family. I asked your dad if he knew anyone named Daniel and he said no. The cops think he might have something to do with Shelby's accident."

Rachel looked like she was in a daze.

"Did he have a scar? On his neck." She asked softly.

Quinn thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't know, his collar was up."

Rachel started biting her lip while looking at the ground nervously. Quinn cautiously moved closer to her, eventually sitting in front of her.

"What's bothering you, Rachel?"

"How much did Sammy and Nathan tell you about my sister and the accident?" She asked abruptly.

_"Sammy I found an ice cream stand!" Charlie yelled out happily. Rachel sat on the blanket with Sammy and Nathan. They had gone to the park, but the heat was sweltering. Nathan was lying down lazily on the blanket, and Sammy was sleeping. The three of them looked up in excitement as they saw Charlie running excitedly towards the them, holding ice cream. "Don't run or..." Sammy warned before Charlie tripped and fell flat._

_Rachel and Nathan groaned as they watched the ice cream fall with her, while Sammy quickly got up to help her now very upset girlfriend._

"Um. Not much. Just that there were two guys and that one of them got caught… the other one got away but died at the beach. But they're not sure." Quinn said slowly as she noticed Rachel's sad expression. "You know something don't you?"

Rachel shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. "It's not something that I can tell the police. The only thing I have is a bad feeling… and possibly that note that we found at Nationals."

Quinn took Rachel's hand when she saw the tears start pooling in her eyes. "Rachel, I want to protect you."

Rachel quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "I felt like someone was watching me in New York. But I can't go to the police about something as stupid as a hunch. And if the guy is who I think he is, then why would he make himself known now? And in New York of all places? I don't know…"

Quinn sighed and brushed hair out of Rachel's face. "Who?" She asked gently.

She became worried when the tears came back, and a look of fear flashed across Rachel's face. Quinn had never really seen Rachel scared before.

"I've never told anyone this before." Rachel said after a moment of silence. "But I love you so much Quinn. And you're everything to me."

"I love you too Rae."

Quinn let go of her hand to give her space, but Rachel entwined their fingers once more and took a breath. Images flooded her mind again and she pushed them aside. She squeezed her hand tighter to remind herself that Quinn was her life now.

* * *

><p><em>All they wanted was to have breakfast.<em>

_Kate had woken the girls up early to make something for their father, who was still sleeping upstairs. Richard always was the cook in the family. After several failed attempts, Charlie volunteered to go out and buy breakfast. Rachel followed._

_That car ride was the last happy memory she shared with her sister._

"_I'm tired." Rachel complained in the front seat of the car. Charlie stopped humming and smiled gently at her when they had pulled up in the driveway._

"_If you're already tired, how are you going to wake up for the zoo tomorrow? We tried so hard to convince Sammy to go... we can't have you falling asleep can we?"_

_Rachel made a face. "Don't worry, I won't be tired. Besides, even if I was I can get Nathan to carry me when we sing to the sharks."_

_Charlie smiled. "Well, if Nathan wants to take pictures then one of us is going to have to carry you."_

_Rachel crossed her arms in front of her chest. "He better, because he promised me that he's going to take pictures with just me."_

"_Why is that?"_

"_Please. We don't want to see you and Sammy being kissy with each other so we're going to leave you guys."_

_Charlie laughed. "Okay, well, let's go get dad his breakfast and then we can plan what's going on tomorrow."_

"_Carry me. But don't trip. You're always so clumsy."_

_She raised an eyebrow at the little girl in the front seat. "Please?"_

_She sighed and got out of the car, bags in hand. Charlie walked up the driveway with Rachel in her arms. "You know, you're starting to get a little big to get carried around all the time." She said as she caught herself from tripping into the same pothole she always fell over. Rachel rolled her eyes. Her sister was clumsy, ate a lot, and was just plain weird._

"_Uh huh. You can stop on my next birthday." She muttered sleepily. Charlie chuckled and walked up the porch steps. She stopped just short of the open door and noticed the overturned furniture in the house._

"_What's wrong?" Rachel asked with her eyes closed._

_Charlie never answered and swallowed hard. She slowly walked in before setting the bag down. Kate sat in the middle of the living room. "Mom?"_

_Kate looked up, a bruise on her cheek, and her eyes widened. _

"_No… no no no no…" _

_Suddenly, Rachel was ripped from her sister's arms. "Rachel!" _

_She didn't have time to scream as she realized that she was in someone else's arms. _

"_**Stop staring, fill the bag.**_**" **_"Stop yelling at me." "__**I'm not yelling. Now hurry up before he yells at us—"**_

"_Dallen! Shut up and fill the damn bag! We have to go." The man holding Rachel yelled at the other one who was filling a bag with the Berry family's silver. "__**Told you."**__ Why was he talking to himself?_

_The one holding Rachel had a gun in his hand. Both of them didn't look like they were past their twenties. What had driven them to do this? Rachel didn't know. The world must not have been filled with rainbows as she thought._

_Suddenly, he raised the gun and pointed it at Charlie. "Close the door and move next to the couch." _

_Rachel saw Charlie swallow once, her eyes flickering over to the phone and did as she was told. _

"_Please, don't hurt the kids." Kate was begging._

"_Shut up! Or I'll shoot you too!"_

_Rachel looked around. Who else did he shoot? Her question was answered as she looked at the blood staining the carpet. Shaggy was dead. _

"_You killed my dog!" Rachel shrieked. Shaggy was adopted when Rachel was only a baby. He was too old to hurt anyone._

"_Rachel, stop." Charlie whimpered from the couch._

_She didn't listen and struggled to get out of the man's hold on her. "You killed my dog!" She yelled again. He wouldn't let go and she proceeded to bite down on the man's shoulder as hard as she could._

"_Shit! Get off!" _

_But Rachel wouldn't. She wanted to cause him as much pain as possible. Before she could plan her next course of action, she was yanked off the man's shoulder and thrown across the room._

_She felt herself hit the full length mirror and heard the sound of shattering glass. She laid on the ground in shock._

"_Rachel!"_

"_Don't move!"_

_Charlie was crying now as she stood staring helplessly at her._

"_Jason—" The man holding the bag was cut off. _

"_Shut __**up!**__ Fill. The. Damn. Bag." Jason said through gritted teeth._

_Rachel looked around. She saw the blood stained carpet and noticed Shaggy. There was more blood than she remembered, and she looked at herself in confusion. It was then that she noticed that it was her blood._

_She suddenly felt the pain of the shards imbedded into her skin. She brought her hand up to her face. Her fingers slid across her cheek, stained in her blood. She whimpered in pain and laid back down, not knowing what else to do. Tears rolled down her cheeks._

_Jason slowly walked over and knelt down next to Rachel. He used his gun to turn her face and inspect her injuries. _

_She cried even more when the gun moved lower._

"_Don't you fucking touch my sister."_

_He turned around. He looked Charlie up and down. Her blonde hair was messy, and her normally gentle and innocent brown eyes were fierce. He laughed and slowly walked over to her, but was stopped by someone grabbing at his legs._

"_Please. Don't hurt them." Kate begged uselessly at his feet. He kicked her away and made his way over to her daughter._

_He pointed the barrel of the gun at her. Her forehead touched the cool metal._

"_God no. Richard! Richard!" Kate was yelling now. She didn't know why she was yelling for him. Richard was sleeping upstairs, unable to hear anything going on in his own house. He wouldn't be able to hear or call the cops. She suddenly felt resentment, knowing that he could save their family so easily, yet he was sleeping upstairs. Jason hit the side of her head with his gun, knocking her unconscious._

"_Jesus, woman. The dog's dead."_

"_Who is Richard?_** I **_**don't know, ask Jason.**__ I don't like this… I don't think—"_

"_Dallen if you don't stop fucking talking to yourself I'll shoot you myself. She's just talking about the dog. Anyone else would be calling the cops or running outside." Jason said, still looking at Charlie._

"_Jason, you said one house. Then we'll be on our way like always."_

"_Shut the fuck up." _

_Dallen stopped talking and continued moving around the living room, collecting anything that looked valuable._

_Jason looked down at his pants."Suck it." He told her._

"_Fuck you." Charlie said._

_The slap echoed throughout the living room. "I will in time. Now suck it, or I'll kill you." _

"_You put that anywhere near my face and I'll bite it off."_

_There was no sound except for the sound of Jason's slow and heavy breathing. _

"_Alright. You want to play that way?"_

_He pointed the gun at Rachel, who was still lying on the carpet. Her eyes widened at the sudden attention put on her._

"_I'll do it, I swear. And if you bite, I'll shoot her and your pathetic mom."_

_Charlie faltered and looked back and forth. Would he be so heartless?_

_Everyone froze as they heard the stairs creaking. Jason looked around frantically. "What the fuck?"_

_Richard walked sleepily down the steps. He seemed oblivious and kept moving to the kitchen. Jason walked quickly. "Hey, what the hell?" He called out as he walked up to him._

_Richard turned around and came face to face with him. He looked around in shock before Jason knocked him unconscious with the butt of his gun. He dragged Richard's body to the living room and laid him next to his wife._

"_Please don't kill me!" Rachel suddenly yelled out. She was crying. Tears pooled in Charlie's eyes. Rachel was only a little girl._

"_My name is Rachel Berry. I brushed my dog's fur every day…. We used to go play with my friend Daniel and his dog…but he moved last month and I haven't been able to talk with him…" She rambled on. She heard from her friends who saw cop movies all the time that someone was less likely to kill her if they knew her name._

"_Okay." Charlie's voice sounded defeated._

_Jason turned and nodded to her. Rachel suddenly looked confused._

"_Wait! I'm sorry! Don't hurt anyone!" She started sobbing._

"_**Don't look, just do what he told you.**__ Okay." Dallen said to himself. Why was he doing that?_

"_Don't look Rachel. Sing me the song you were going to sing to the fish okay?" _

_Rachel didn't listen. She couldn't bring herself to sing and just kept sobbing, trying to drown out all the sounds. She heard groaning. "Dallen, shut the kid up."_

_She kept crying. _

"_Rachel." She closed her eyes tight and ignored the voice that she would never forget. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about him… Just don't look." She heard Dallen tell her._

_When her sobs died down, she sniffed and looked up. Dallen stood in front of her. _

"_Pull up your skirt." She heard Jason command her sister._

_There was only the sound of her crying. Rachel hated hearing her cry. _

_A gunshot rang throughout the house and Rachel felt as if her shoulder was on fire. She cried out._

"_You think I won't do it! I told you I would, now pull up the fucking skirt!" Jason was screaming now._

"_Jesus, Jason! You want the neighbors to call the cops!" Dallen scolded his brother._

_Jason ignored him and continued with Charlie. Rachel's eyes were closed. Dallen looked closer, and realized she was still breathing. He sighed out in relief. They couldn't have a dead body on their hands. Rachel's eyes opened. Pain was everywhere. _

_Dallen stared down at Rachel, looking almost apologetic. His gaze shifted over and he realized Richard was awake. He was subtly trying to call the cops. Dallen looked back down at Rachel, who was staring at him in fear. Would he tell that her dad was calling the cops? _

_He looked away, ignoring the man that was trying to save his family._

"_**What are you doing, tell him.**__ Leave me alone." Dallen closed his eyes and grabbed his arm, his nails digging into the skin. The voices stopped and Rachel still looked at him in shock. Something was wrong with him, but she didn't dwell on it. There was something wrong with both of them._

_She looked over when she heard a sharp moan and whimper. She turned away, wishing she hadn't looked._

_Jason put Charlie's skirt back on._

"_Again." He said. What was he talking about?_

_Charlie was still crying._

_Rachel couldn't take it anymore. She got up quickly, ignoring the pain and jumped on his back. "Get off my sister!" _

_Jason grunted and pulled his pants up, Rachel still clinging to his back. She held tight onto the shard of glass in her hand, not knowing what to do with it. She didn't know how to kill anyone._

_Suddenly someone was pulling her off and she lashed out in anger. She fell to the ground and looked at her blood soaked hand. Rachel looked up and noticed Dallen holding his neck, blood starting to stain the collar of his shirt._

_Jason moved to shoot Rachel. His arm was yanked away and his finger slipped on the trigger. He looked into Charlie's eyes as the bullet tore through her forehead. "No!" Rachel cried._

_Jason looked up quickly. "What the—" Rachel had cut Dallen and was now desperately crawling over to her father._

_Richard was laying with his eyes wide open in fear. A cell phone was open next to him._

"_You little fuck!" Jason yelled. He yanked Rachel away from him and stomped on the open cell phone, unsuccessfully trying to end all communication. Sirens could be heard from down the street. Jason's expression contorted in anger and his fists rained down upon Richard's face until he was unconscious again. _

_Jason looked over at Dallen, who was still holding onto his neck. It was sliced open. He had to make a decision fast and the sirens were getting closer._

_His face crumbled. "I'm sorry, Dallen."_

"_What's going on?" He tried to say, but it came out unrecognizable._

"_I have to make a run for it. The car is parked down the block and you'll slow us down."_

_Dallen shook his head. What? What was happening… _

_Rachel watched in shock, her vision starting to blur._

"_I kept you alive as long as I could. I love you." _

_Without another word, Jason sprinted out of the house. He left the silver, but most importantly, he left his confused and helpless younger brother behind to die._

_Rachel saw Dallen stagger towards the back of the house, talking to himself before she finally blacked out._

Quinn stared in shock when she finished hearing Rachel's story. Rachel was shaking her head, sobbing.

"I was a coward. I'm sorry." She kept saying those words over and over again. Quinn slid her arms around Rachel.

"You were a kid Rachel. You weren't a coward. She was trying to protect you." Rachel cried harder into Quinn's chest when she mentioned her sister. "You're allowed to be scared."

She didn't answer, and continued to sob. Quinn's voice cracked as she felt her own tears burn the back of her eyes.

"Rachel, nod so that I know you understand me. Please?"

Quinn finally let the tears fall as she felt her slowly nod and held her tighter. They would get through this together. And Quinn would protect her girlfriend no matter what.

* * *

><p>The sound of a smack resonated throughout Dallen's motel room.<p>

"_You're so stupid_! _You can't do anything right!_" He yelled to no one in particular, face contorted in anger. His expression suddenly crumbled and he held his face where he had hit himself.

"I'll get it right next time. Besides, she's with someone else now." Silence.

"_And that's stopping us… how?"_

"She's happy. I don't understand how she would be happy with that girl, but she is."

Dallen sat on the floor, dust still in his hair. He held his face in his hands, trying to block the voices out of his head.

"_How could you go out and blow our cover like that? After all the years we've been fighting to stay hidden."_ He said to himself.

"I don't know I felt something but I don't know what it was. But she's happy now. I don't want to take that away from her. We should just leave her alone now."

Dallen suddenly hit himself again, harder.

"_Stop being selfish! You're not the only one that wants her!"_ He yelled out suddenly before his face fell again.

"No." He moaned.

"_You have no one left. Just me and her. Jason left you all alone. Without him, we don't know anything."_

"Please. Leave me alone. Leave her alone." Dallen was rocking back and forth on the carpet.

"_Do you want to be all alone? You're crazy, Dallen. Do you think anyone will love a crazy person? Jason loved you, even if you secretly hated him. You hated him, but he kept you alive. And without her, you have no reason to still be here. You should just go to jail and turn us in."_

"Jason… he's gone right now. I'm doing fine without him."

_**I'm right here.**_

Dallen froze.

"…Jason?"

_**Yes. Or at least your version of him.**_

"Why are you here?"

_**You brought me here. You're desperate. So what do you do? You call me, because I make all the decisions. I do find that ironic because—**_

"Shut up. I don't need her."

**Yes you do**_**. **_**We'll kill her if we have to**_**. You need me. Let me help us. Let me help you.**_

"_Let him help us."_

Dallen slammed his face into the ground. Everything was too chaotic. He just wanted to rest.

**A/N: You'll find out Dallen's intentions eventually. Thanks for reading and reviewing :]**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'm starting to build up to the end. I'll hopefully be finished in a few more chapters. I'm thinking of other stories to write now that I'm finishing up my first. Review? :]]**

Chapter 15

"F-fuck!" Quinn exclaimed as Rachel's tongue slid over her wet, swollen lips. Her fingers tangled in her girlfriend's hair as her head bobbed in between Quinn's legs.

She moaned again, completely forgetting that she had wanted to have a serious conversation with Rachel before her girlfriend had jumped her the moment Rachel had shut the door to her bedroom. Quinn wasn't complaining though.

After all the chaos going on, she hadn't been able to get any in weeks.

"Oh God."

She was afraid that she would tear Rachel's hair out when she felt her tongue flutter onto her clit. Quinn released her hair and moved to grip onto the sheets next to her as she came, the explosion between her legs becoming too much after weeks of accidental teasing on Rachel's part. Her eyes squeezed shut. She vaguely felt Rachel slowly move up her body and kiss her neck.

"Hi there."

Quinn opened her eyes. Rachel's smug face smiled down at her. She was still fully dressed and had yanked Quinn's pants off the moment they had hit the bed with her on top of her girlfriend. Quinn's shirt was twisted around.

Rachel smirked and attempted to smooth out the tangled mess of her girlfriend's short hair.

"Hi." Quinn said back, realizing that they hadn't spoken when she had arrived. Her hands ran up and down Rachel's back.

Rachel giggled and nuzzled her face into Quinn's neck, placing light kisses underneath her jaw. They stayed that way for a moment until Quinn pushed herself up to sit against the headboard. Rachel sat up on her elbow. "What?"

"What are your plans for… after graduation?"

Rachel thought for a moment. She didn't know if it was okay to talk about the future with Quinn before.

"I… always wanted to sing."

She moved to snuggle into Quinn's side and draped her arm over her waist. "Do you think I'd be good enough for… I don't know, Juilliard?" She asked hesitantly.

Quinn snorted. "Of course. You don't have to ask that." Rachel bit back a smile.

"So… you want to go to New York?" Rachel's heart beat a little faster.

"I've been thinking about it. But that can always change." She said while looking up at Quinn.

Quinn looked down, her striking hazel green eyes meeting gentle chocolate brown. "I think you should do it."

Rachel bit her lip. "Really?"

"Mmhmm."

"What about you…?"

Quinn shrugged a bit, looking contemplative. Would Rachel want to be with her in New York?

"What do you think about me going to… med school?"

Rachel smiled and moved to straddle her thighs, her hands on Quinn's waist.

"I think that having a hard working doctor as a girlfriend is very attractive."

Quinn caressed her cheek with her thumb. "I've been looking at Columbia."

"Even better."

She tilted her head to the side. "Does this mean that we… you'll… want to move in with me some day?" Could life get any more perfect?

Rachel laughed and played with Quinn's hair. "I'll tell you what. If you still love me after we finish freshman year… since we're required to live in dorms… then of course."

Quinn sat up and kissed her, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I'll always love you." She whispered against her lips. She smoothed her hands up Rachel's back underneath her shirt, pushing it up until it was off. Her fingers found the clasp of her bra and slipped it off. Quinn lowered her head and traced her tongue around her nipple before slowly sucking it into her mouth. Rachel moaned as Quinn kissed up her chest and to her neck.

"Take off your pants." She whispered.

Nodding, Rachel moved to the side and unbuttoned her jeans. She barely had time to remove her panties before Quinn gently pushed her onto her back and kissed her again. There were no words as Quinn ran her fingers down Rachel's chest and over her stomach, coming to rest between silky thighs. She just wanted to make her feel good.

She moved over her lips and found them moist, already aroused from the day's events. She slid two fingers in between as far as they would go and started a quick rhythm, stroking them in and out. She groaned as she felt the muscles react to her actions.

Amidst the haze of pleasure, Rachel realized Quinn hadn't even taken the time to remove the rest of her own clothes. As her insides fluttered in reaction to the fingers inside her, she managed to grasp at the material of her t shirt and yanked it over Quinn's head before tossing it to the side.

The blonde gave a husky moan. Her fingers started moving faster.

Rachel gasped and her head leaned farther back against the pillows, her legs spreading even more. She whimpered when she felt Quinn's thumb brush over her clit.

"Quinn…" She breathed out as she pulled the blonde closer.

Quinn bit her neck, and slid her tongue over the bruise that was forming, marking her.

Rachel swallowed hard, her eyes glazed over with lust. A light sheen of sweat began to form on her forehead, and the sheets were beginning to stick to her back. She panted as she started to feel the familiar beginnings of her orgasm.

"Shit." She heard Quinn say as Rachel's ran her nails down her back.

"Don't make me wait Rachel." Quinn said into her ear, surprising herself with her forwardness. Her messy blonde hair brushed across Rachel's cheek.

Rachel felt the swell of pleasure as it spread throughout her body. It ran up her thighs and settled between her legs. The feeling grew and her muscles squeezed tight. Her back arched as her orgasm spread over her, causing her to moan out Quinn's name.

She waited a moment, staring back at her girlfriend who was smiling down at her. "So does that mean you will? Still love me after graduation I mean…" Rachel said while blushing.

Quinn reached to take her own bra off. "Yup." She paused. "You wanna do it again?"

Rachel smirked and pressed her lips against Quinn's, knowing she wouldn't have to answer that.

* * *

><p>"God. I don't think I can eat anymore." Puck moaned as his head hit the table. Finn leaned back in his chair. "Pussy."<p>

Puck's head immediately shot up. "Hey! I ate twice as much as you!" He looked at the waitress who was glaring at him and gave her an apologetic look. Their table was filthy.

He rolled his eyes. They were eating at a hole in the wall burger joint that was always dirty.

"So have you talked with Shelby lately?" Finn asked randomly.

"Yeah. And I've been looking after Beth."

Finn looked at his best friend across the table. "What?" He looked upset.

"Shelby's moving. Something to do with the accident."

"Oh."

"I wouldn't have been a good father anyway. And I don't think Quinn is looking to form a relationship with her either."

Puck leaned back in his chair and shrugged nonchalantly. "She was too old for me anyway." In reality, it killed him inside.

Finn rolled his eyes at him. "I don't think you'll get over her."

"Course not. What kind of kid forgets his first kid?"

"I was talking about Shelby."

Puck scowled at him. "Rachel's one of my best friends. I'd rather keep my relationship with her than have a risky relationship with her mom."

They stayed silent for a while. Puck crossed his arms in front of him.

He didn't need Shelby. He had friends that could help him start over. His chest felt tight as he imagined himself never seeing her again. Could he do it? Puck scoffed to himself. If he put his mind to it, he could do anything.

"Let's go."

He got up, throwing his trash out. Finn followed behind him and noticed the man sitting next to the door get up, slamming right into Puck.

"Watch it." He hissed at his friend and shoved him away.

"The hell?" Puck yelled and shoved him back. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" He asked, already riled up from his previous thoughts. Finn felt strange as he watched the man with messy brown hair stare at Puck with murder in his eyes. A clean scar could be seen on his neck.

"I should be asking you the same thing, thinking that you're good enough— " "_Shut up."_ The man clenched his fists as he talked to himself. Finn narrowed his eyes at him. This guy was crazy.

Puck scowled and proceeded to walk out the door as Finn let out the breath he was holding. His friend didn't need to go to juvie again. Finn felt someone shove him out of the way before seeing the man grab Puck's shoulder. He violently forced him around before he threw a punch towards Puck's nose. There was a sickening crack as everyone heard his nose break.

Finn tackled the guy before feeling Puck grab his shirt and pull him off. He shoved his friend to the side and punched the scarred man harder. "Yeah, you got a lucky shot." Puck said as he struggled.

"Hey take it outside!" The manager of the restaurant had come out. "That's it I'm calling—"

She immediately stopped talking as he saw the crazed man pull out the blade tucked into the back of his belt. Puck froze.

Finn put his hand onto his friend's shoulder. "Dude, stop." Something was seriously wrong with this guy. He looked like he wanted to murder his friend. And not because of a stupid fight in a fast food restaurant.

The man lowered the blade before pointing it back at them. His face crumbled and he grabbed his own wrist. "No. _No."_

"What the fuck…" Puck whispered as he watched.

The man suddenly pointed the knife at him again, his face hardening once more. "Never want to see him again…" He muttered out.

Just as quickly, he turned and ran out the door, disappearing between the alleys. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Puck suddenly moaned and fell into the chair beside him. "Shit. I don't need another broken nose."

"I'm going to have to call the cops kid." The manager said.

"No. Please. I can't go back to juvie again." He looked up with wide eyes.

"But—"

"There was no damage done to the restaurant right? He was just pissed off. It was just a fight."

The manager sighed and disappeared into the back, muttering to herself about stupid kids.

"You have to at least go to a hospital." Finn said once he helped him out of the restaurant.

"No way. Don't need to."

Finn shoved his friend into the truck before getting into the driver's seat. "You don't get it do you? That guy matched the same description as the person Quinn told us about. The one that kissed her at the hospital. We have to call the cops or at least tell Rachel. He was weird. Something was wrong with him." He shook his head, the fear was starting to settle as he started the ignition.

Puck looked defeated. Finn was right.

He let him drive to the hospital while trying to clean up the blood from his broken nose.

* * *

><p>"That guy was fucking nuts." He said as the doctor stitched up his split nose. The man had punched him so hard his nose had split.<p>

"Stop talking and watch your mouth." The doctor instructed him.

Puck smirked and stole a glance at her cleavage under her scrubs. The doctor stopped and gave him a _don't fuck with me_ glare. He cleared his throat and looked away.

"Noah this is serious!" Rachel exclaimed. She was tightly holding onto his hand while sitting next to him on the table. Finn stood in the corner of the room next to Quinn, who was sitting in the chair. She still felt queasy around blood and couldn't bring herself to look.

The officer that they had talked to during Shelby's accident was at the door.

"I don't know, I was seeing red. The crazy shoved me for no reason and then punched me."

"He had a scar too. On his neck." Finn said suddenly, looking perturbed. Everyone's attention went to him except for the doctor. "He just… attacked him. I don't know what was wrong with him."

Rachel suddenly stood up. "What else Finn?"

"What?"

"Was there anything else you remember about him?" She said impatiently. She released Noah's hand.

"He…" Finn scratched the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable. "He talked to himself. But it was like he had two people in his head. His facial expressions changed and it wasn't normal. Not like how people usually talk to themselves."

Rachel paled.

"Dallen."

Quinn looked extremely concerned.

"Who's Dallen?" Noah said suddenly.

"How?" Officer Jensen was quiet up until now.

"It has to be. Who else? I don't know why he's hurting people like this but… I don't know." Rachel sat in Quinn's lap, holding onto her hand for comfort as Quinn rubbed her hand on her back.

"Ms. Berry, Dallen Miller is dead."

"How do you know that? All you found was blood by the beach. For all we know, he could have followed us from California and…" She trailed off.

"Am I missing something?" Noah said from the table. Suddenly, he felt as if this wasn't about him anymore.

"Mr. Miller's father turned himself in. He claimed insanity after police found out he killed his wife. He also claimed to kill his son after Jason was arrested." Jensen informed, although he looked disturbed.

"But they didn't find a body. At least his body."

Rachel had indeed done her research.

"The Millers were all insane. Jack Miller killed his wife after Jason and Dallen ran away, fearing for their lives. He was going to kill his entire family for his own reasons. After Jason left Dallen at the house, we found blood at the beach. We didn't stop looking after that. Jack Miller was then found guilty for killing his wife. He also admitted to killing his son when he came back after Jason abandoned him."

"And you just stopped looking after that?"

"Jack Miller was going to kill them all. You know Dallen. He's helpless on his own. The only person he had left was his father so he went back home."

Rachel got up. "Then how are you going to explain the man in the restaurant who matches his exact description? There aren't many people who have multiple personality disorder and a scar in the exact place I gave it to him."

"Ms. Berry… we know and we suspect. And I believe you." He looked uncomfortable.

"Then what's wrong?"

Rachel was scared of the answer.

"We haven't been able to find any trace of him after he disappeared that day. It's like he doesn't exist anymore. Well, at least until now."

Rachel froze and sat on the floor. Quinn immediately got up from the chair and sat next to her, holding her hand. "It's like he was waiting to make himself known or something." She said to no one in particular.

"I can put this in my report but… it's going to be a long shot because this case was closed years ago. And I'm sorry to say this, but there isn't much evidence. All we have is the incident today which could have just been a meaningless fight and only a possibility that he hurt Shelby Corcoran based on your… experiences."

Rachel put her head in her hands, feeling years worth of fear suddenly making itself known. She heard the officer leave the room and sat in silence.

"It doesn't make sense. Wouldn't he want to hurt me then?"

"Don't talk like that." Quinn said, still concerned.

"I don't want to interrupt… but what the hell?" Puck said from the table. Rachel looked up. He deserved to know.

"Dallen broke into my house with his brother around ten years ago. Jason killed my dog and then raped and killed my sister. That's why we moved to Ohio. To get away from the memories."

The doctor slowed down with the stitching.

"Is that where you got…" He asked, looking at her scars.

"Yes. My mom blamed my dad because he was upstairs the whole time and didn't hear a thing. Somehow I slashed Dallen in the throat, causing his brother to leave him so he could get a chance to run away." Rachel leaned her head against the wall behind her. "It was my fault his life became fucked up. Which is why I don't understand. No offense Noah, but he could have killed you and he didn't. Nothing he did was openly threatening to me either."

She squeezed Quinn's hand. She didn't even want to think about him hurting her girlfriend.

"He couldn't bring himself to." Finn said from where he was now standing.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, looking upset.

"I mean. He really wanted to kill Puck. His expression was… it gave me the willies. But right after, he suddenly looked scared and he couldn't do it and he ran away."

"Multiple personality disorder." Rachel murmured. "He always had it. It's like he has his own personality and then another one that makes him do all the bad stuff." She shook her head.

"He's a lot smarter than he seems." Puck said. "He's been hiding out all these years so people wouldn't suspect him."

The doctor got up and left, looking slightly disturbed by the teens' conversation.

"You guys go. Finn said he'll drive me home after the doc gives me the meds."

Rachel nodded and got up, Quinn's hand in hers. They slowly walked through the hospital.

"I'm scared Quinn." She said once they reached the parking lot.

Quinn moved to put her arm around Rachel's shoulders, pulling her in closer. She was scared for her too.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So this story will come to a close in about one or two more chapters :]] I have some other ideas and hopefully my writing will get better :D**

**I'm sorry that this chapter is extremely short. I had a really bad day with some people who are not so nice. **

Chapter 16

"Rachel you have to tell your dad."

Rachel's head shot up.

"No. He can't know."

Quinn's eyebrow rose. She shifted a bit on the cafeteria bench and put a comforting hand on Rachel's thigh.

"Why not?"

Rachel held the bridge of her nose while shaking her head. "He's under too much stress already. He doesn't need to add this to everything that's already happening."

"Yes he does. How do you think he would feel if something happened to you? How do you think _I_ would feel?"

The rest of the table was quiet, not knowing what to say. Santana and Brittany were surprisingly keeping their hands to themselves while everyone else ate in silence.

"Rachel… we already know this is the guy. What if he tries to kill you?" Quinn said after no response.

"This will kill him. He's been through enough." She replied sadly.

"Yeah, he has. But you're his daughter."

Rachel nodded slowly, looking defeated. She smiled when she felt Quinn's lips at the corner of her mouth. "Love you." She whispered as the rest of the table started chatting once more.

"Love you too."

Quinn didn't want to show it, but she was terrified. Whoever this guy was, he was smart. And he was crazy. And that was not a good combination. They had only gotten back from the hospital the day before, but she couldn't help the feeling of dread that Dallen would act faster than the cops. She had gone to the station and yelled at the poor lady at the front desk.

That only got her close to getting arrested. The police really didn't have enough evidence to do anything and even then, Dallen hadn't really done anything to alarm them.

_This guy is like a damn rat._ Thinking about what he did to Rachel made her sick. She wanted to kill him herself.

But something about him really creeped her out. He seemed so innocent and dangerous at the same time.

Rachel didn't know what to do anymore. Being with Quinn was the best thing that ever happened to her, and now her past had come back to haunt her. And her girlfriend.

"Jesus." She muttered to herself. _I can't catch a break can I?_

She leaned into Quinn's side and put her arm around her waist.

"By the way, I have to pick up Kevin from the vet after school. They kept him overnight to check out his leg. He's been limping lately." She murmured after closing her eyes. Quinn nodded. "Alright. I can take you."

Rachel shook her head.

"It's okay, I can go by myself. Besides, I don't think your mom appreciates me taking you away all the time." She said with a smile.

The bell rang, signaling their last class of the day.

They walked hand in hand to Rachel's next class, where Quinn lightly kissed her before parting. "Call me when you get back. I'll come over."

Rachel walked into the classroom and sat next to Santana and Brittany, the latter smiling brightly at her.

"Smile some more, midget. You're cuter that way." Santana said as Rachel sat down. Beside her, Brittany nodded, still smiling.

She smiled a bit and took out her notebook.

"What's wrong Rae?" Brittany asked innocently.

"Nothing. I'm just worried about Quinn. And my dad. This stupid thing is just stressing them out more than it should."

"They love you Rachel. They don't care about how much it stresses them out." Santana added.

Rachel felt flutters in her stomach whenever she thought about Quinn. "Yeah." She said while blushing.

"Alright! Last class we read—"

Rachel tuned out the teacher and doodled in her notebook. She wasn't able to stop the feeling of helplessness and fear.

She didn't even notice the bell had rang until everyone around her had gotten up.

"See you guys later." She said to Santana and Brittany before rushing to the parking lot. She knew Kevin was upset about spending the night at the vet.

She hummed to herself as she drove down the road, trying to forget about the day before.

Her dad would be so upset when she told him about Dallen. Him and his brother forever ruined the Berry family.

She drove quickly but carefully, knowing the small road was difficult to drive on. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. An SUV drove into the lane next to her, staying right at her bumper.

"The fuck…" Rachel whispered. Whoever it was, the driver was now going in the wrong lane. Her eyes widened as he reared to the right, crashing into her and sending her car spinning out of control. The side of her head smashed into the window as her car flipped over the guard rail, sending her into the lake below.

She felt blood trickle down her face as her vision blurred.

* * *

><p>"Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God." Quinn repeated to herself over and over again. Tears streamed down her face while her heart felt like it was split in two. "How could this happen? It's only been a couple hours. I only left her alone for a little bit." She asked hysterically.<p>

"We'll find out what actually happened when we get there." Puck tried to reassure her.

Quinn's heart stopped when she received a text message from Richard, saying Rachel was in a car accident. She had been waiting with Puck that day. He had to drive since he was sure she would get into an accident.

Quinn dashed out of the car as soon as he had parked in front of the police station.

"What the hell happened?" She exclaimed as she reached Richard and the other cops, including Jensen.

"Ms. Berry was in an accident and flipped over into the lake."

She stopped breathing and couldn't say anything.

"How?" Puck asked as soon as he walked in.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" One of the officers asked.

Richard put his hand on the officer's shoulder and nodded.

"Hit and run." He looked over at Quinn, who was breathing hard. "We haven't found a body yet. She was hit on one side, then hit the guard rail and flipped over. We think she was able to get out, or someone got her out. We tracked her license plate and called whoever we could get our hands on and got confirmation from her father and her mother that it was her car."

Quinn sobbed and Puck put his arm around her. "You're saying she's either hurt somewhere by herself, or someone took her and hasn't taken her to a hospital yet?"

Jensen nodded. "And I don't think it would be too hard for us to find her if she got out herself. The lake isn't that big and there are no bodies anywhere."

"So someone kidnapped her? Possibly?" Quinn asked, once she was able to talk again.

"Could be. No one with her description has checked into any hospitals in Lima."

"Dallen."

Everyone looked over at her. "This is all your fault! You didn't even try to find him because you thought there wasn't enough evidence, and now he's taken her!"

Richard sat down and put his head in his hands. He had lost almost everyone. He couldn't lose Rachel too.

"Ma'am, please understand that there still isn't any evidence that Mr. Miller is responsible, let alone still alive." One of the officers cut in.

"Bullshit! There's no one else who would do this. He attacked Puck and now he's going after Rachel. Who else has the scar in the exact same place and talks to himself the way he does?"

"There's always coincidence. Besides, if he was out to kidnap Ms. Berry, then why would he attack Puckerman? He has nothing to do with the case. The person most likely to get attacked would have been you, Ms. Fabray, since hurting you would hurt her the most."

"Puck is Rachel's best friend. Hurting him would hurt her too." She said through gritted teeth. "I don't know why he didn't hurt me, but I know it was him."

"We'll do our best to find Rachel first. There could be a chance that she'll still show up." Jensen said before the conversation got too out of hand.

Quinn moved to sit next to Richard and held his hand. He gave her a pained look and nodded, assuring her that he was okay.

"I'm going to have to tell Samantha and Nathan too. They're going to want to know everything."

Puck crossed his arms in front of his chest and shared a look with her. They both knew who had done this. If the police didn't believe them, then they would go find Rachel themselves. She texted Santana and Brittany. If possible, she wanted them to come with her.

* * *

><p><em>I'm going to die.<em> Rachel thought to herself as she blinked herself back to consciousness. Water was filling in her car fast. Blood stained her shirt.

She tried to take off her seat belt and cried out when white hot pain shot through her left side. Her shoulder was probably dislocated. Her car was sinking fast and she whimpered. She didn't want to die yet.

She couldn't leave Quinn yet.

Rachel tugged at her seat belt, but it wouldn't give. She closed her eyes as she became submerged in the water. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire and her head felt like it was split open.

Just as she began to give into the darkness surrounding her vision, she felt a hand tug onto the seat belt and a knife cut through it. Something grasped at her shirt and pulled her through the broken window. She gasped as her head broke the surface. Her savior was still dragging her by her shirt and swam to the shore.

She blacked out as her body was pulled onto the sand.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm sorry this is late gahh. **

Chapter 17

"Kate says she'll be here tomorrow. She got the earliest flight possible." Nathan said. Samantha nodded from her seat on the couch. Quinn sat on the carpet, leaning against the couch along with Kevin, who was sleeping in her lap. She had gone with Santana and Brittany to pick him up when they realized that Rachel had never made it to the vet's office. Hours of searching for Rachel had done nothing but exhaust the group.

Santana sat close to Quinn, while Brittany sat cross legged on the couch behind her. Richard had invited all of Rachel's friends to stay as long as they wished and had cooked them all dinner. Afterwards, he had gone upstairs to sleep, leaving Quinn, Samantha, Nathan, Puck, Brittany, Santana, and Shelby. The rest of the glee club along with Mr. Schue had decided to call it a night.

"We'll find her." Sam reassured Quinn as she observed her broken expression. Quinn nodded.

"I know. I'm just worried. She's hurt and alone."

"Rachel's strong." Puck added in.

"We both got into the schools we wanted. All we had to do was get through high school and get to New York." She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead on them, hiding the tears that were once again pooling in her eyes. Kevin whined as he was forced off of Quinn's lap. Brittany put her hand on her shoulder. She looked as if she was going to burst in tears as well.

Samantha patted Brittany's back, giving her a sympathetic look. "You guys are all lucky to have each other." She said, gesturing to the four friends in the room. "Rachel is lucky to have you as friends."

"_We're_ lucky Rachel's our friend." Puck said.

Shelby nodded in agreement.

"And we're going to keep looking again tomorrow, okay?" Sam said. Quinn nodded again, her face still covered.

* * *

><p>Rachel's eyes fluttered open. She took in her surroundings and realized she was in a dirty motel room. She whimpered when she tried to sit up. Pain shot through her left shoulder and her head was pounding. She gingerly touched her forehead, which was crudely wrapped with bandages.<p>

"Please don't yell. I don't want to have to tie you up."

Rachel's head whipped to her right. Dallen sat in the bed next to her, while looking down at his hands. If for some miracle her phone had survived being submerged in the lake, it was no longer in her pocket. She subtly searched the room for anything to use as a weapon. She could barely move. Her heart sank as she realized she wouldn't be able to run.

"_Don't bother running. We're not moving from this room until tonight."_

Rachel shivered at the sudden change in tone. Memories flooded back into her mind as she heard his voice for the first time in years.

"Dallen, why didn't you just let me die if you hate me so much?" She bit her tongue , instantly regretting the question. Who knows what kind of torture he wanted to inflict on her before killing her.

Dallen chuckled. Or one of his personalities chuckled.

"_We have our reasons Rachel."_

Rachel sat against the headboard, knowing that any attempts would only backfire.

"I need to change your bandages." It seemed like Dallen was back for the time being.

"You did this to me, didn't you? You crashed into my car." Rachel asked cautiously, still feeling exhausted. Dallen looked away shyly.

"I'm sorry about your shoulder. I set it for you when you were unconscious and tried stitching the side of your head."

She froze. "Tried?"

Dallen grimaced and moved to sit in front of her, face falling when she flinched. "Well, I'm not a doctor. You're going to have another scar." He slowly removed the bandages and she touched the poor patch job running across her temple. Rachel sighed. What was a few more?

How could she even bring herself to hate him? Rachel was terrified of Dallen. Maybe even more than she had been terrified of Jason.

God she missed everyone. Especially Quinn. She wondered how long it had been since the accident.

"I can't tell you anything. We have to lay low until they stop looking."

"Well, then can you tell me how you've been sneaking around all this time?" She asked bitterly.

Dallen gave her a blank look. "…always good at hiding."

"I went back home." He said.

Rachel looked confused. "Didn't your father try to kill you…?"

"Yes. Twice. After the first time, Jason took care of us and took us away."

"_I'm sorry son. Blue told me to do it. I'm sending you to heaven now." Dallen's father tightened his fingers around Dallen's throat._

_**I'm going to die.**_

_Jason ran into the bedroom after hearing the struggle. He grabbed the book on the nightstand and slammed it as hard as he could onto the back of his father's head._

_He didn't stop and kept beating him._

"_Jason stop! Please!"_

_Breathing hard, he set the bloody book down. "If I see you again I'll kill you." He grabbed his brother's hand and walked out the door._

Dallen looked back at Rachel. "There was nowhere else for me to go. So I went back to see if he was any different. He wasn't."

"_Why did you come back? He said you would come back. I don't know what to do anymore."_

_Dallen looked up at his father. He still couldn't talk very well after being slashed in the throat. At least his father had the decency to stitch him up._

_His father held up the bloody bat. He had just beaten his wife to death. _

"_It's time. We're going to heaven now. Blue said we would."_

_**No fucking way we're dying now.**_

_Dallen's face contorted and he tackled his father to the ground, while beating him senseless with his fists. He grabbed the bat and slammed it down onto his knees, causing him to cry out._

"_He was right! You're possessed! You have to let me send you on your way! If you continue now you'll go to hell when you die…"_

_He moved closer to his struggling father and stared him in the eye, a glint of amusement in his own._

"_**Then we'll see you there.**_**"**

"_Wait stop! I don't want to die." His father cried pathetically from the ground._

_Dallen snorted. "__**No. You're going to do something for me. I need to disappear**__." He said huskily as he lightly touched his wound. "__**You're going to say you killed me too and you burned my body along with mom's and scattered our ashes. I'm sure they will believe you."**_

"And the cops did. I mean, my father truly believed that we would all go to heaven if we all died then. When he failed, he was convinced I was demon possessed and that I would come kill him and send him to hell if he didn't do what I said."

Rachel stared in shock. "Your own father…?"

Dallen sighed. "He was crazy. It's why he killed himself in the mental hospital. He was convinced I was going to come back for him."

"Besides, he had already killed my mom. They'll definitely believe he killed me too."

Rachel sat on the bed, disturbed. "If you don't mind me asking... who was Blue?" Dallen closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips.

"He was the neighbor's dog."

She swallowed hard. "Oh.." His eyes opened again. "I always thought he was a nice dog."

Jesus, the whole family was nuts.

"And the reason you went through all that is because you were waiting for this moment?"

Dallen's eyes met hers again. "Yes."

"And you're going to kill me? Because I was the reason Jason left you behind."

"No."

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed.

"Jason made me do so many things I didn't want to do. He was my brother, but I secretly hated him."

"I don't understand."

He gently stroked the scar on his neck. "You saved me Rachel. If it wasn't for you, I would be in jail, still with him."

She was dumbfounded and speechless.

"And I now I want to save you. We can run away together."

* * *

><p>Quinn watched as Kate and Richard had their silent conversation. Puck had his head in his hands, resting his eyes for a moment before the gang decided to resume their search for Rachel.<p>

"What if he's hurting her?" Quinn said suddenly. "What if he's avenging his brother? Or himself?"

Puck looked up and didn't say anything. Why else would Dallen kidnap her? He didn't want to think about the things he could be doing to her right now. He wasn't giving up, but he needed a moment to clear his head.

Quinn's phone rang and she answered it tiredly. "Hello."

"…_Quinn_?"

She sat up straight on the couch. "Rachel?" She cried out.

Puck's head shot up from his hands.

"_Dallen's dead… I'm hurt. Can you come get me?" _She almost dropped the phone.

Quinn looked over at Puck in shock, eyes wide and filled with tears. Kate and Richard were in front of her now.

"It's Rachel?" Puck demanded. What the hell was going on?

Quinn nodded wordlessly while everyone shared a look. They all knew Rachel was a fighter.

She cleared her throat.

"Where are you?"

**I'm sorry for the abrupt ending. :( I promise I'll try to make the last couple chapters better and more interesting.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So, if anyone is still out there, I can only apologize profusely about never updating this story… In all honesty, it's been an extremely tough couple of years (but I'm pretty young, so who knows?). But now I'm just trying to keep going. I decided that I am going to continue this story and finish it because the reviews have been so amazing. And getting messages have definitely motivated me to keep going and possibly write another story (and actually finish it). Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with my story because I know you want to actually know what happens with this overdue update. I love you all **

Chapter 18

_Hours earlier_

"Dallen…"

Rachel had to choose her words carefully. This man was just too unstable.

"My whole life. I have waited for someone like you for my whole life." Dallen looked at her hopefully with wide eyes.

"I didn't save you from anything. I was a little girl and I was scared." She started slowly. "And I tried to _kill_ you." She added.

"My father tried to kill me. Jason used me and then left me to die. No one has ever loved me before. Until you."

"Excuse me?"

Rachel's eyebrows were furrowed.

"_You heard the man."_ Dallen's eyes bore into her. "_You're coming with us. Either in this life or the next._"

"So you're going to kill me?"

"_If you don't cooperate, yes. We can build a new life together, Rachel." _

Rachel shivered. This was insane.

"I want to go home. I have a girlfriend!"

There was a flash of anger in his eyes.

"If you really loved me, you would see that I'm happy with her and leave me _alone_!" she immediately regretted the words and instinctively sunk back against the headboard.

"SHUT UP!"

Unshed tears pooled in Dallen's eyes.

"Don't you see that I need you? You can make the voices go away. If I have someone who loves me, I won't need Jason or the other guy anymore. It can be just you and me."

He got onto his knees, eyes still on her.

"**Don't be so selfish, Dallen. You need us. And we need you." **Dallen put his hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his sobs as he fought his mental battle.

Rachel was terrified. _I need a way out_.

The only way to get out was to target Dallen's soft spot for her. She shook her head.

_What if I don't ever see Quinn again?_

There was no more fight in her. She had spent all these years recovering, only to have everything thrown back into her face.

"We leave tonight." Dallen interrupted her thoughts. He looked almost apologetic. "Until then, rest. If you stay quiet, I'll give you some painkillers for your shoulder."

* * *

><p>"How did you survive all this time?"<p>

He was startled. He wasn't used to conversations with real people.

"As a bum. Nobody pays attention to homeless people."

Rachel couldn't tell if she was terrified of him or felt sorry for him. _Dallen_ was innocent. Almost. He seemed to have the mental capacity of a teenager, and yet, in his head he housed killers.

"It must have been hard." She said.

"It was at times. But I managed."

"Did you plan to do this to me? The whole time?"

"No."

The room was silent.

"Not until last year. I randomly happened upon a news article on you. Coincidence right? Considering it happened so long ago…" he trailed off. "And then that bitch of a mother tried replacing you. She didn't deserve to have your friendship. Her and that punk at the restaurant."

Rachel cringed.

"So you tried to kill her?"

"I don't know. They hurt you."

"Noah never hurt me."

"Yes he did!" he paused. "He encouraged that woman. He fathered that… child that replaced you."

The room fell silent once more.

She couldn't take it anymore. They had been sitting mostly in silence the whole night. Something had to happen and happen fast.

"You haven't told me anything about yourself. " She murmured quietly.

Dallen looked uncomfortable.

"I…"

"You've never really had a real conversation with anyone, have you?" she coaxed him gently.

She took his silence as a yes.

"I… like dogs. The strays are the nicest." He started slowly. "I'm sorry about your dog."

"Kevin? You hurt him?" she asked, frowning.

"No. The other one."

"Oh."

Rachel felt the sting of tears. _What am I doing?_

"What… kind of stuff do you like?" he asked, hesitating at first.

She could hear children running just outside before settling into their own rooms for the night. It was starting to quiet down.

"I like to sing."

"Would you sing for me?"

"Now?"

She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Yes."

She looked away from him. "Umm… sure."

Rachel nervously ran her hand through her hair, hissing as she brushed against the bandage on her head.

Dallen got up and moved to the bed, inspecting the damage.

"We should change your bandages."

He reached over and grabbed the roll and tape on the nightstand. Gently, he removed her bandages and stroked the side of her face.

Their eyes met for a brief moment before she involuntarily flinched, looking down at her hands.

"Please… let me go home." She whispered.

Dallen felt a small pang of guilt in his chest.

_What am I doing?_ He thought to himself before his thoughts became invaded again.

**You're finally claiming what you deserve, little brother. **

Rachel looked at him hopefully, pleading with him to change his mind and let her go. Suddenly, his demeanor changed and he met her gaze.

"Everyone has left me behind. And now you want to leave me behind?" he looked at her with betrayal written all over his face.

"No… I—"

"No. I know what you meant. And it's time to go now."

"Please don't do this—"

She stopped talking abruptly when she saw the glint of the blade he pulled out.

Rachel started to panic. If they move again, it'll be even harder for anyone to find her.

"Dallen, you don't have to do this. They'll track the stolen car and find me eventually. You might have been able to hide on your own, but people are looking for me." _Quinn is looking for me._

"If you don't shut your goddamn mouth I'll just kill you right here."

For the first time, Rachel let the tears fall and sobbed quietly. Dallen faltered a bit before he checked the windows, making sure the parking lot was empty.

"Get up and be quiet. One scream and I'll slit your throat."

She believed him. Reluctantly, she got up from the bed and followed him out the door. Every part of her screamed at her to make a noise, beg for help, but her instincts kept her quiet. The innocent Dallen wasn't there anymore, having been replaced by a monster.

Rachel got into the backseat of the car slowly, feeling a sense of dread as they left the motel.

"We're leaving Ohio. We'll ditch the car and then walk to a bus station."

She sobbed again.

"And then what? We stay in hiding the rest of our lives? That's not the way to live." She said bitterly.

He snarled at her and kept driving.

She was done being afraid. She needed to get back to her family.

Rachel looked at her surroundings, realizing that they had been hiding in plain sight. She watched in anger as they passed by Quinn's favorite restaurant, McKinley High, even the vet's office.

She contemplated jumping out of the car, but changed her mind. At this hour, no one was around and she could easily just get run down.

Feeling defeated, Rachel leaned her head against the window, instantly regretting it when she bumped the open wound. _Fucker never gave me my new bandage._

They would leave Lima in under an hour. She wasn't going to let that happen.

Rachel looked ahead, scanning her surroundings. The lake was up ahead. Maybe she could run for the forest and lose him on foot.

Noah had taken her hiking there once.

_You idiot. He's a full grown, uninjured man._

It was her only chance.

_If you crash the car and break a leg, it's all over._

Rachel could feel the tears of frustration. They were driving past the lake now.

_Think of Quinn._

"Dallen."

There was no turning back now. She slowly unbuckled her seatbelt, praying he wouldn't notice.

She swallowed hard when there was no reply.

"You never changed my bandages. The gash still feels really… raw."

"Deal with it."

Rachel bit her lip.

"If it gets infected we'll have bigger problems." She paused before adding, "Please."

Dallen stayed silent for a little bit before cursing under his breath. He pulled over abruptly by the forest line, staying hidden from the main road.

Rachel didn't wait for him to unbuckle his seatbelt. She shoved the door open, wincing from the pain in her shoulder and sprinted to the woods.

_Oh God. Please just let me make it out of this alive._

She cried out in agony when she felt her arm being yanked back and she fell backwards, feeling her shoulder become dislocated again. She felt hands around her throat and her arms flailed.

"**You've made your choice and now we've made ours. If you can't love us now then we'll just have to try again in the next life."**

Dallen's face was contorted. She had never felt fear stronger than this before.

Tears fell down her cheeks as she started losing consciousness. She tried hitting him to no avail.

"**You're going to die without her."**

Rachel felt a surge of anger. She had just started a life with Quinn, and now he was trying to shatter it. She grasped at him, looking for anything to kill him with. She cried harder as she felt the knife at his belt and frantically grabbed hold of it.

Her vision was blurring.

Dallen roared as she slashed him across his chest.

"**You stupid bitch!" **

He backhanded her hard as she gasped for breath, yanking the knife away and holding it to her throat.

_This is it. At least I tried my best._

She thought of Quinn's smile and felt robbed. She hadn't seen that smile nearly enough times.

_I love you baby. I'll be waiting for you._

* * *

><p>There was sorrow in her eyes.<p>

_Just do it. _

**It's time.**

Why couldn't they leave him alone?

_That bitch doesn't deserve her_. _They all don't. _

"If we really love her, then why are we going to kill her?" Dallen said to himself.

"You're not a bad person." Rachel was looking at him with pleading eyes. "If you were, you wouldn't be feeling like this and you would have killed me already."

She swallowed hard, choosing her words carefully.

"You don't need them. All they've done is hurt you and make you do things you don't even want."

He laughed, almost giggled.

"Oh really? I tried killing your mother. And I almost tried killing your friend."

"What about Quinn? You never hurt her."

"Don't tempt me. I could easily kill you and then kill her for taking you from me."

"But you didn't. Because you knew that it would kill me if you hurt her. And that it would make me hate you."

Dallen flinched.

"I…"

"Fight them. You don't need them."

Slowly, he removed the knife. Rachel breathed deeply and slowly sat up, wincing at the pain.

"You're wrong." He said bitterly. "I can't live without them. The voices have guided me my whole life. And even if I tried shutting them out, they won't ever leave me alone."

She stayed silent, not wanting to trigger anything.

Dallen looked down at the knife.

"There's no way I can be normal."

The blade sliced through his wrist. He held back a yelp as he sliced again and again, only stopping when his blood starting flowing freely. He heard her gasp. His wrist was already becoming numb and he quickly sliced the other wrist before he became too weak.

Rachel felt fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. She wasn't sure why she was crying for him.

_You're a useless fuck, Dallen._

**You're killing us little brother. You're giving Daddy what he finally wants. **

"They're all waiting for you Rachel."

She sobbed as she stood up and cupped his cheek before heading to the car. She never looked back.

_Useless._

**I hate you.**

He smiled as his eyes shut.

"I hate you too."

* * *

><p>Rachel sobbed as she turned the car around and headed home. She reached up to wipe her tears away and winced as a flare of pain went up her arm.<p>

The car swerved and she struggled to get it back into control. She frantically looked for anywhere that was open. She praised God as she reached a gas station and almost slipped getting out of the car.

The cashier screamed when she burst through the doors.

"I'm just a kid!" she yelled as she put her hands up, whimpering behind the counter.

"Call the cops." Rachel demanded. "Please."

The girl scrambled to the phone and for the first time, Rachel sighed in relief before sliding to the floor.

Dallen was dead. The poor soul had died after being tortured his whole life. She prayed that he was in a better place now.

"Do you need to call someone?"

Rachel looked up.

"Um. Yes, please."

The girl handed her the phone and she dialed the first person on her mind, crying again.

"_Hello._"

She covered her mouth, trying to cover up her sobs.

"…Quinn?"

"_Rachel?_"

"Dallen's dead… and I'm hurt. Can you come get me?" She could hear the sirens already.

"_Where are you?"_

"At a convenience store. The one near my house. The cops are already coming. I think—"

"Miss?"

A police officer interrupted her. A paramedic rushed to her side. Rachel sniffed.

"_Babe? Rachel? I'm already out the door. Your parents are here too."_

"The cops are here. Meet me at the hospital. Please." she whispered into the phone, just wanting to go home.

* * *

><p>Rachel's mind was fuzzy as she awoke. She distinctly remembered being sedated in order to get her shoulder fixed. She took in her surroundings, deducing that she was in the hospital.<p>

"You're awake."

Kate was sitting by her bedside with Richard next to her.

"Uh. Yea."

An awkward silence filled the room before Richard reached over to hold her.

"_I'm so glad you're okay."_

They both sat in silence, gauging her reaction. Tears sprang to Rachel's eyes.

"_I missed you guys so much"_ she signed.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." Kate cried.

The three of them embraced and talked like a family once more. Her parents never asked her what happened, knowing that she would tell them when she was ready.

"There are a lot of people that want to see you, if you're feeling up to it."

"Quinn." She automatically answered. She had to see her now.

Her parents stood up, quietly left the room, leaving Rachel to her thoughts.

When the door finally opened, she cried again, wondering if she was looking at an angel.

Quinn quickly shut the door, and rushed over to Rachel. She pressed her lips to hers, gently cupping her face as she too cried tears of joy.

"I'm so glad you're here."

Quinn laughed and sat in the chair while holding Rachel's hand.

"You scared me half to death."

"Come here." Rachel gestured to the bed, scooting over to make room. Quinn lay down gently and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, almost not believing that they were there together.

"I love you so much Quinn. You're the reason I got away."

"I love you too. More than anyone will ever know."

They held each other, Quinn resting her chin on Rachel's head while Rachel caressed her hip.

"I think Kate is planning on staying longer. It seemed like she starting bonding with your dad while we were all waiting for you to wake up."

Rachel smiled. "What about Shelby?"

Quinn bit her lip.

"Uh… she said she's still moving, but not very far. After you get better of course. She said that I could come see Beth sometimes."

"Mm." Rachel said sleepily.

"Puck, Samantha and Nathan, the whole Glee club is waiting outside."

She nodded.

"I can't wait to see them too. After we get to cuddle some more."

Quinn smiled as Rachel started drifting off to sleep before feeling her eyes water a bit.

"Don't cry babe. Let's enjoy this moment together. I've cried more than enough for one day."

She nodded and Rachel looked up at her. Their foreheads touched and they both closed their eyes, smiling contently.

"I love you Quinn."

"I love you too Rachel."

Quinn held Rachel closer.

She wanted to make this girl her wife one day.

* * *

><p>The End<p>

**A/N: Thanks so much for taking this journey with me. I've appreciated all the messages and kind reviews and they are what kept me going. I was thinking of writing an epilogue if enough people wanted one, but we will see if anyone stuck around after all this time. Haha. To everyone that reached the end and is reading this note, thank you so much for giving this story a chance and reading it (whether you hated it or not!). You are awesome. **


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